


Attack on Titan Online

by Haelo, spacedeer, VanitasMoon



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Friendship, Gaming, Gen, Humor, MMORPG, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-17
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2017-12-26 20:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/970181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haelo/pseuds/Haelo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedeer/pseuds/spacedeer, https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanitasMoon/pseuds/VanitasMoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s a new MMO called Attack on Titan Online and Eren, Mikasa, and Armin decided they were going to try it out. Things get bitter for Eren as he’s constantly PK’d while trying to level, Mikasa is always AFKing, and Armin forgets his hotkey setup.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Mikasa AFKs

**Author's Note:**

> This revolves around the mmo, but they do play other things (which won't be in great detail) and their offline lives.  
> It's also pg-13 and doesn't focus on sexual intentions but can be a little fluffy. Hopefully you'll like it c:
> 
> We'd like to note that Eren/Mikasa/Armin are 20  
> While Levi and Petra are their canon ages, Erd is 29, Gunter is 27, and Auruo is 24.

The rain poured down, the clouds filled the sky with gloom, and Eren, Armin, and Mikasa stood in a field, titans frozen in tableau all around them. The wind brushed against their faces as Eren readied his dual swords, prepared to attack.

 “Eren… wait a second.” Armin whispered, placing his hand on Eren’s shoulder, gesturing through the haze of rain and bouncing droplets to the forest beyond the waiting titans. “Look.” Three figures had emerged from the forest that bordered it, but to Eren it was a backdrop to the sudden en-masse motion of the titans, shuffling through the entrenching mud underfoot, approaching with a slow, yet seemingly unstoppable gait.

“ARMIN GET READY TO HEAL!” Eren screamed as he broke from his friends, stepping lightly over the viscous mud with practiced feet, charging the closest titan with reckless abandon. A giant hand smashed into the saturated ground where Eren had just been moments before, splattering mud in a filthy corona. “ARMIN, HEAL!”

“E-e-eren...” Armin stuttered, fumbling nervously with his tome.

“HEAL ME ARMIN, COME ON!” Eren demanded feverishly, slicing at the titan’s neck in a whirl of steel. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” His feet barely touched the swampy ground when another titan began to reach for him. “MIKASA, WHY AREN’T YOU TANKING?”

_Shiragiku has idled._

“WHY DO YOU DO THIS EVERY TIME?!” Eren screamed. The three figures from the bordering forest drew closer. His health had dropped from the last titan he'd slain. _What are they doing? They better not take my kills!_ Just as he turned to see what Armin was doing, a dagger punctured his abdomen, shining steel piercing the murky darkness, stained a brilliant red with fresh blood, taking the rest of his health down to zero.

_TitanTyrant has been slayed._

* * *

 

Eren tossed his headset across the room, unceremoniously wrenching from its USB port, “MIKASA, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? YOU GOT ME KILLED AGAIN!” He bellowed, throwing his bedroom door open, “I KNOW YOU’RE IN THE KITCHEN, I CAN HEAR YOU! WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THAT BEFORE WE STARTED PLAYING?!”

“Eren, stop shouting.” Mikasa said calmly. Eren stormed into the kitchen where both of his roommates were sitting, Armin sat at the counter quietly, ashamedly unable to figure out his new hotkey setup.

“I’m sorry. I changed my hotkeys last night and I’m still not used to them…”

“Its fine, Armin.” Eren dragged his fingers through his hair, calming in the face of the dejected Armin. “One of those three killed me again, anyways.”

“Isn’t that the twentieth time?” Asked Mikasa mockingly.

“Yeah, well it wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t always idling!”

“I was hungry.”

“That could’ve waited! We had all those titans to ourselves and you were just _so_ hungry that you couldn’t wait ten minutes?!”

“E-eren, it’s just a game…” Armin said under his breath, looking down guiltily at his box of Koala’s March. He toyed nervously with the tab that stuck out from pulling it open.

“Just a game?!” He squawked at his best friend, “We spend forty-five dollars a month on this and you’re saying it’s _just_ a game!?” he threw his arms up in frustration and stomped out of the room.

Armin looked over at Mikasa who was eating a bowl of rice with every sign of someone happy in themselves. She felt his stare and shrugged her shoulders.

 

* * *

 

Eren slammed his bedroom door and grabbed his headset from the floor. He jerked his computer chair angrily and crashed into the chair angrily. The computer monitor sat accusingly on the death screen waiting for him to respawn, but Eren had already used his _Respawn Here_ for the hour and the only option left was _Return to Town_. He grudgingly stabbed enter with his index finger and sat back in his chair, letting the game load as he plugged his headset back in and heard the sounds of Armin snacking on his stupid Koala things.

“Ugh, he left his mic unmuted.” Eren grumbled as the surroundings of the town of Stohess began to reveal themselves on his screen. Eren reached for his mouse and sat his fingers in the familiar position of the WASD keys. He had taken pains to make his character look like him; messy hair, greenish blue eyes, perfect jawline. Only thing different from his real self to his online persona was the fact that it was half dog.

It had been about a year since they’ve joined Attack on Titan Online and they were halfway to the current max level. Attack on Titan Online was a new MMO when they discovered it; with high ratings, amazing graphics, and great gameplay. In order to afford the fees, the three of them had pooled their money from their paychecks. The game offered four races which were Elves, Halflings, Humans, and Maeras. Maeras were an animal-human hybrid race that offered many different animal choices. The only model that had the hair Eren wanted was a Maera with canine features. Mikasa had mocked his choice for being "Girlish."

Mikasa, on the other hand, had selected a female Human as her character because she'd felt like there was no need for there to be any other race. Armin had had the most difficult time; he wasn’t sure what he wanted to be, and Eren had badgered him for fifteen minutes about how they should all be different races, so he'd ended up settling on a Halfling. While Mikasa named her character after a Japanese flower and Armin used his last name since it was uncommon, Eren had picked a name that he felt was more relevant to the game.

 _I can’t rely on anyone, maybe I should buy all the shit I need instead. While I’m at it, I should repair my armor to… that last titan brought it’s durability down too much._ Eren began moving his character through the streets of the town he had respawned in, guided by his resentful inner monologue. First he headed to the General Store, buying potions and stat-increasing foods. His next stop was the Blacksmith's just behind him. As he turned his camera around, he noticed a group of people hanging around the corner next to the building he was about to enter.  Eren scanned his cursor over the names until it landed on an elf by the name of Rivaille and he noticed that this elf had high level armor on, with a strange peculiar head gear. Out of curiosity he right-clicked to view the level of the character.

“Why is it blocked?” He wondered aloud, resting his chin in his hand.

“Did you say something?” asked Armin, causing Eren to jump as the voice rang through his earphones.

“God, Armin! At least announce yourself when you’re back!” he exclaimed angrily.

“Sorry, I thought you might’ve been in the bathroom… I’m going to warp to town.”

“When you load come to the Blacksmith.”

“Why?”

“Stop questioning me and just come!”

By the time Armin reached Eren, he had found out why the elf’s equipment was blocked and it turned out this Rivaille guy was actually one of the game’s Game Masters. He was helping people with things like being stuck in areas, unable to delete items from their inventories, character issues, and a myriad other game-based problems. Armin excused himself and went to resupply, but Eren just sat there, waiting for everyone to be done. After sitting around for an hour or so, Eren got tired of waiting and moved his character closer, “Excuse me…” He typed and hit enter.

“Yes, TitanTyrant?” the elf replied.

“I keep getting Player Killed in the fields outside of Stohess, why aren’t you GMs putting a stop to this?”

“Kid, if I banned or suspended everyone who Player Killed someone, there’d be no one left on the servers.”

Eren was frustrated, “There should be a rule about camping out an area!”

“Do they keep killing you?”

“If they didn’t, I wouldn’t be here!”

“Well, stop sucking then.”

Silence fell over Eren, his face began to burn with anger and as he sat there staring at his screen, rereading the words “stop sucking then” over and over, and the anger built up, “WHO THE FUCK DOES THIS GUY THINK HE IS? TELLING ME TO STOP SUCKING? WHAT KIND OF GAY NAME IS RIVAILLE ANYWAYS, IS THAT SOME SORT OF FRENCH? WHAT IS A FRENCHIE DOING ON THE NORTH AMERICAN SERVERS, GO BACK TO THE EUROPEAN ONE!”

The bedroom door swung open and Mikasa burst in, “Eren, stop screaming! You’re so loud that I can hear you echo through Armin’s headset!”

“MIKASA YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!”

“I don’t need to understand and whatever it is, you’re overreacting.”

“COME HERE READ WHAT THIS ASSHOLE JUST SAID TO ME!” Mikasa made her way behind Eren and leaned over his shoulder, reading the chat on the screen.

“You’re throwing a fit over some guy saying you suck?” she questioned.

“YES!”

“… Eren, I think it’s time for you to log off.” She turned, making for the door. “You need to stop taking this so seriously.” She closed the door behind her with a final thud, snapping Eren into something approaching reality.

The smile he had a few minutes ago turned into a frown, “Maybe that is enough for tonight…” with a sigh, he hit the ESC key and proceeded to log out. The game closed and he sat there just staring at his space wallpaper for what seemed like hours. Eren got out of his chair, grabbed a pillow and laid on his bed staring up at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts.

“I’ll make that jerk pay.” He whispered and closed his eyes. Eren couldn’t get over it.


	2. Wings of Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi and his roommates decide to go out to breakfast while Eren decides to play L4D2 with Marco and Jean.

The sun was shining through the cream colored curtains, the smell of fresh air filling the room as Levi sat at his desk smiling to himself with his morning coffee in hand. “Hey Levi!” Petra smiled as she walked into the office and she noticed he seemed pleased with himself and tilted her head, “Wait… what’d you do, now?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie!” Petra stood behind him, looking at his monitor. She read the chat he had with TitanTyrant and shook her head, “Levi… you shouldn’t be messing with players like that.”

“It’s just harmless fun, Petra.” He assured her, Levi had just finished his bi-hourly support chat when a player by TitanTyrant came up to him and complained about Player Killers.

“Telling a kid that he should stop sucking isn’t nice!” Petra exclaimed.

“Is Levi picking on kids again?” chimed in Gunter who shuffled in wearing his boxers and a tank top and Petra turned her head towards the voice; instantly turned red and hastily covered her eyes.

“Gunter! Put some pants on, will ya!”

“I don’t see a rule about needing pants.”

“Yeah, Petra! There ain’t no rules about pants!” Erd added, stepping in behind Gunter, who for some reason, was only wearing his smiley face boxers too, “What’s this about picking on kids now?”

“Oh, Levi just made a kid ragequit.”

“So the usual.” Erd laughed and settled in his chair, Gunter seated himself as well and spun around to face Levi. Auruo sauntered in wearing plaid pajama bottoms. He scratched his head, oblivious to the current conversation and headed to his own desk right when Erd jolted up and dashed out of the room.

Levi joked, “He’s probably gone to stink up the bathroom.” He turned to look at Petra who was sitting at her desk with her tablet out, but stopped what she was doing as she heard him.

“That’s gross!” she complained and pushed her pink headphones on over her ears; Gunter chuckled. Petra was the only girl living amongst four guys, she thought she’d be used to their jokes by now, but every day was a new experience. Gunter and Erd are Let’s Players who play whatever games they can and manage their channels together while Auruo likes the obscure games and makes random clips of them. Petra does the art for everyone while going to school and working a part-time job, and Levi does his own thing that involves ruining the emotions of children on Attack on Titan Online, but he’s actually a well-known and well-admired Game Master. The five of them manage a guild called Wings of Freedom that is one of the highest ranked guilds in the game and they’re ranked number one in raids, PVPs, and the world event that happens once a week.

“What’s on the table today, Gunter?” Levi turned and faced Gunter as Erd walked back into the room, “I was thinking we could all go out for breakfast.”

“That sounds good, I didn’t feel like cooking anyways” Erd grabbed his chair, “We should play some Left 4 Dead 2 when we get back, we need something to record.” Auruo turned in his chair slowly and looked at his four roommates; he didn’t remember coming out of his room, let alone walking to his desk in their community office.

“Breakfast?” Auruo inquired, “It’s after twelve.” The four of them looked over at Petra who was trying hard to ignore them, but she felt them staring at her and turned around; Levi’s face was a few inches from her own.

“We’re going to IHOP, get ready.” He decided and began to lift himself out of his chair.

“O-okay!” Petra buried her head in her arms as the guys all got up and ambled out of the room. She pushed her chair away from her desk once she heard their voices fade away and stood up, her face a bright red. She felt relieved that they’re all gone and grabbed her cup, scrambling off to get ready.

 

* * *

 

Petra reached for the door handle of the passenger side to Levi’s car, peeking through the window she could see he had just cleaned it. Where her bobby pins had once been scattered on the dashboard, sat a little tray that had her name on it. Being the only girl, the guys made it a rule that she got forever shotgun, but Petra didn’t mind it though because she got to sit next to Levi every time they went somewhere. Gunter and Erd came crashing out of the front door, and Auruo soon followed behind mumbling to himself, “I’m so tired of being in the middle… why can’t one of them sit on the inside for once?” He kicked a rock that went flying towards Erd’s shin.

“OW!” Erd cursed, glaring over at Auruo, “What was that for!”

“Didn’t mean to.”

“Yeah sure.” Erd made his way to the car and got in, Gunter opened the door on his side and gestured for Auruo to get in. Petra stared out the window while the three in the backseat argued over Auruo kicking the rock on purpose. The door to the driver side opened and Levi, who preferred to be in his own car when going out with the group, slid himself into his seat, then inserted the key in the ignition and they were on their way.

 

* * *

 

They turned into a nearly empty IHOP parking lot that held only a few cars and parked close to the entrance. Gunter held the door open as they all piled in, but the inside was unusually chilly today with less customers than the usual, “Welcome to IHOP, how many in your party?” a quiet, cute girl asked.

“Five.”

“Right this way!” she smiled, but Levi’s face was distraught, he could see all the dirty dishes just piling up on the tables around him as they were shown to their seats, “I hope this is good for you?”

“… Is there a cleaner table?” Levi criticized.

“Oh, sure thing.” The girl apologized and led them to another table. The five of them sat down, took their menus and began the debate on what to have.

 

* * *

 

Eren rolled over groaning, he grabbed his blanket and tightly wrapped himself. Armin knocked gently on the door, but left after shortly after. Eren had been up for a while now and refused to leave his bed. _Ugh, I should just stop wallowing._ Grudgingly, he rolled himself out of bed and stood up to stretch. Eren grabbed his phone from his desk and made his way out of the room, he noticed Mikasa had gone out and brought home dinner, “Where’s mine?” he pointed out, looking for a third plate.

“You weren’t up.”

“Still could’ve thought about me.” He complained, the smell of the food was making him hungry.

“You can have the rest of mine.” Armin pushed his plate towards Eren, half smiling.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m full.”

“Thanks Armin!” Eren grabbed a fork from the drawer and dug in making obnoxious sounds such as lip smacking.

“Sasha and I are going to the mall and Armin’s gonna go with us… do you want to join as well?” Mikasa questioned, moving food around her plate. Eren wasn’t sure if he wanted to go out today, it was his day off from work and he planned to stay home and relax.

“Nah, I think I’ll just relax today.”

“Suit yourself.” Mikasa got up, grabbed her plate and washed her dishes, then turned around and nodded to Armin, “Let’s go.”

Armin got off his stool and looked at Eren, “Are you sure?” and Eren nodded, his mouth full of food. He watched as they closed the door and sighed, then once he was finished, he washed his dish, grabbed a drink and headed back to his room after making a pit stop at the bathroom. Eren pulled his chair out and relaxed into it, turning towards his desk. He hit the power button on his monitor, waking it up from sleep mode, he logged into Skype, no more than a minute later, a message popped up.

**Marco** : Hey!

_Eren_ : sup dude

**Marco** : Not much. Are you down for some L4D2 with Jean and I?

_Eren_ : yeah sure only if that horse stops making us lose

**Jean** : I’m here you know

_Eren_ : i know. call me

Marco and Eren went to middle school together, but after he transferred to another school, they were still close, but used Skype to talk to each other. After a while, Marco met Jean and they became extremely close. This always pissed Eren off because Jean and he never get along and whenever they played Attack on Titan Online together, Marco always seemed to die the same way and Jean always went on this rant about how it’s impossible for that to happen.

**Marco, Jean calling.**

“I’m just saying, Marco! We should play Versus for once!”

“Yeah, versus sounds good…” Eren agreed with Jean for what felt like the first time. He moved his cursor over the Left 4 Dead 2 icon and double clicked, “It’ll be a good change of pace, I think.”

“No one cares what you think, Eren!” Jean yelled.

“Jean…” Marco replied hesitantly, “Can’t we all just get along?”

**One-half-Sided has invited you to join their game? [ OK ]**

Eren hit okay as the game connected him to Marco’s lobby, “Make it public, it won’t be fun if it’s just us.”

“I-I guess.”

“I call Ellis!” Jean raved, giving no one a chance to object, and Marco picked Nick, but just as Eren was about to pick Coach, someone joined and snatched it up, leaving him with Rochelle. Moments later the lobby was filled and their team were as followed;

Survivors:            One-half-Sided > Nick                                    Jaegermeister > Rochelle

                                Granrodeo > Ellis                                              unk0wnt0te323 > Coach

 

* * *

 

“Why does my name say Mr. Clean?” Levi fumed and gave sharp looks at Erd and Gunter; Gunter busted out laughing, smacking Erd on the back.

“It was a joke!” Erd laughed, “A’ight, I’m in a lobby.” Everyone else followed.

Gunter sighed, “Aw, looks like we don’t get to go first.”

“Look at these names, though. Granrodeo, Jaegermeister?”

“One-half-Sided, what is that supposed to be?” jested Auruo.

Levi’s face was stern, “They’re probably a bunch of 12 year olds.”

Petra rolled her eyes, brought her headphones over her ears and left the guys to do their thing.


	3. Previously On...

“Behind you!” Marco shouted, frantically shooting in Jean’s direction.

“Marco what are you doing! Friendly fire! FRIENDLY FIRE!”

**One-half-Sided has killed Mr. Clean.**

“I got one!”

“Good job, man!” Jean was ecstatic, they were finally getting somewhere. Eren died earlier in the map, and it was down to Marco and Jean, but just as they were about to reach the safehouse, the sounds for the Tank began playing and Marco was sent flying across the room.

“Marco!” Jean raced towards his friend as a horde of zombies ambushed him from behind, sending them both to their ends.

Eren slammed his hand against his desk, “Why! Every map, we lose!” he screeched out.

“Eren this is your fault!”

“How is this my fault?!”

“You fucking died in the first five minutes!”

“Shut up, horseface!”

“Guys! Stop fighting!” Marco cried out, “It’s not fun when there’s so much yelling!” Marco went on about trying to be friends, and Eren looked down at the chat of the lobby.

 **BigGunz:** go again? switch team members to make it even.

 “Jean.”

“What is it, Eren?” Jean replied sharply.

 “Truce… this round.” Eren was reluctant, but he knew all this bickering was hindering their game. They debated on who should switch, resulting in Mr. Clean and the unknown player switching places.

 **Mr. Clean** : All you have to do is stand back and try to not get in my way.

* * *

 

Mikasa slid her key into the lock on their apartment’s front door as Armin reached the landing with bags from their day with Sasha at the mall. The key clicked and she pushed the door in, entering to the familiar sounds of Eren yelling in his bedroom, “What’re you doing tonight?” She asked Armin, holding the door while he lugged in the bags.

“I don’t know… maybe farm and then work on my homework…” He put the bags down by the couch and rubbed his shoulder, “Man! Those bags were heavy.” Armin looked over at Mikasa, her face a bit distant.

“I gotta close tonight…” she began, “make sure Eren eats something.” The door clicked and Mikasa made her way to her room, leaving Armin to stand there to wonder. Mikasa hasn’t been herself lately, but then it hit him, it was the week of her parents’ death anniversary and she never was the same since they passed, always becoming distant and closed off. Armin felt sorry for not realizing it sooner, but it seemed that Eren forgot too or at least, never showed any remembrance.

Every year around the time of their death, Eren would take her to where they were parents’ were laid to rest and stay with her for the entire day, but the last year or so he’s nearly forgotten only until the day before when Armin mentioned it. Eren’s parents were close with the Ackermans and felt rightful to take their friends’ daughter in after this passing.

Eren was yelling obscene things about horses, Armin shook his head and walked passed his door to his own. He reached for the knob, turning it while pushing in, then reached for the light switch. The room lit up, the walls a soft blue, his bed was perfectly made, and pictures of him and his friends hung on the wall closest to the closet. His desk was pushed up against the window in the back of the room, sitting on the flat, organized surface was the Macbook he bought for school was waiting for him. Armin wandered over to his desk, opened his laptop and turned it on. He turned around; while it loaded up, he stepped over to his bookshelf, grabbed a box of Koala March’s, and returned to his desk; seating himself in his rolling chair.

The laptop’s screen lit up, Armin moved his mouse with one hand has he shoved little koalas in his mouth, and chewed them as he opened AOTO. As the game loaded, he heard Eren’s muffled screaming “HORSE, STOP SHOOTING ME!” Armin never understood why Eren disliked Jean, he wasn’t even sure if Eren understood that they were together and he thought back to when Marco told Eren about their relationship.

_“That horse made you gay!”_

_Marco was silent for a moment, “Eren… that’s not how it works.”_

_“Yes it is!” Eren refused to let it go, “If you never met his ugly horseface-”_

_“I really like Jean, why do you have to be so rude? You were never like this before….” Marco paused, “Are you jealous, like do you think just because I’m dating someone, I wouldn’t want to be friends with you?_

_Eren was taken aback by Marco’s accusation and a bit hurt that he would think that, “W-what are you talking about? You can be friends with anyone you want, but why him?! He’s a big, dumb horseface!” He felt replaced, unimportant now, like Jean took his position of being close to Marco, all because Marco had to move when they were younger. They never fought like this before, Eren was too stubborn to apologize for the way he acted and his emotions took the better of him. The house was tense during that time; Eren was a jerk to everyone he came into contact with, his eyes always seemed angry, and he would hardly come out of his room for anything other than food or the bathroom. He hardly spoke a word if he didn’t need to…._

Armin frowned at the thought of all this when he heard a light knock on his door, he spun in his chair just as Mikasa opened it, letting light from the hallway fill the gap. “I’m leaving now… keep him away from my leftovers.” Armin nodded and Mikasa closed his door, he heard the sounds of the front door opening then closing. He wondered if he should’ve said something to her about her loss, but he didn’t even know where to begin. He looked back at his laptop and proceeded to log in while he snacked on his koalas.

The town of Stohess began to load in, characters ran all around his Halfling, busy with whatever they were doing. When Armin had created his character, he tried to simulate himself, just as Eren did with his own. He never really played MMOs, but Eren was nagging him to try this one, _“It has giants that break down walls, it’s like an event once a week and you have to try and help the townspeople evacuate! You also get to pick which faction you want to be in, it’s so cool, I’m going to be part of the Scouting Legion!”_ Armin recalled just how excited Eren was for it, but Eren began take it too seriously when they finally obtained enough reputation and levels to choose one. He missed the days where they played for fun, without the factions, the guilds, and the PVP.

He finished storing his items, resupplied and headed towards the gates of the town that led to the Forest of Giant Trees, where low levels tend to go. Armin did what he usually did when Eren wasn’t in-game, he ran around looking for flowers and rocks as his subclass so he could craft them all new armor and weapons. As he scrambled around the forest, he noticed someone was following him and became hesitant. He switched to his 3D Maneuver Gear, which he got from joining the Scouting Legion faction, and went up into the trees. Armin watched as the stranger stopped under the branch where he had landed and he spotted similarities of the person underneath him to the person who kept killing Eren. Armin was unsure if he should say something or try and run away, but he was cut short when text appeared in his empty chatbox.

 **Lionheart** : wanna party?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we went back and tried to make this and the chapters before it, sound less monotone textbook. lol hopefully it'll flow better!


	4. Change of Heart

Streetlights lit up and people bustled down the sidewalks; the wind was a gentle caress against Mikasa’s skin as she ambled on, pulling her scarf in close. She pushed her hands inside her black padded jacket and rubbed her cold fingers against the faux fur that lined it. The days were kind, but the nights were chilly as the fall season arose from the depths of the hot summer. Mikasa was lost in thought as she reached the corner of the street where she worked. Looking up, she noticed the streetlight just ahead of her flicker and go out. One of the doors soon opened as she found her way closer, filling the little patch of sidewalk with the warm glow of its contents. “Here let me get that.” A stranger gestured for Mikasa, holding the door. With a forced smile, she nodded and entered.

Mikasa worked at a little Café on 18th Street called _Chalk and Stars_ as a barista. On the walls hung scattered chalkboards and at each table sat mini ones that allowed the patrons to write notes as they waited. Delicious pastries ranging from donuts to pies lined the front counter on trays and encased in glass. A giant chalkboard hung above the counter, listing all the available items. When Mikasa got the job, she was the only applicant that had any previous experience. She worked at a local Starbucks before they moved for school. The night manager was her preferred. They got along and separated personal feelings from work.

Warmth surrounded Mikasa as she blinked her eyes and she found herself back in a familiar place that felt like another home to her. She walked around the round tables, mementos from the owner sat along the windows. The smell of freshly grounded coffee and baked goods filled the air. Mikasa inhaled, a smile played on her lips. She walked through a swinging door behind the counter that led to an employee lounge and began to take her coat off. Placing it on hooks that lined the wall, Mikasa turned around and found the night manager seated in a brown cushiony chair next to a propped open door. The manager looked up, staring at her with a look of confusion.

“You’re not scheduled for tonight…” The manager insisted, “What are you doing here?”

“I switched with Sasha” Mikasa walked over to another empty chair and relaxed, “She had to go see her boyfriend before he left town.” Mikasa crossed one leg over the other, unwound her scarf from around her neck and placed it on her lap. She fiddled with one of the stars on her apron when her manager got up abruptly.

“Well, what are we sitting around for? We have customers to serve.” The manager padded towards the door, but stopped when they realized she wasn’t following.

“Rico…” she whispered. She slowly stood up and before she was able to say anything Rico stood beside her. Mikasa felt a hand rest on her shoulder.

“I know, Mikasa… let’s just… let’s just get through this night, okay?” Rico tilted her head and gave her a gentle smile.

Mikasa nodded and followed Rico out. She took her place behind the counter; greeting her first customer, “Welcome to Chalk and Stars! How may I help you tonight?”

* * *

 

It was around ten when Eren had enough yelling at Jean for one night and logged off. He moved his cursor over the time in the bottom right corner of his screen and saw the date. _Shit! Is that seriously….?! No wonder…_ he jumped up out of his chair and ran to his door. He tugged on the doorknob and it crashed against the wall. He darted down the hall to Armin’s room. Eren banged his fist against the pale wooden door. “Armin! I need your car keys!” he shouted, practically demanding. He may have had his license, but he didn’t have his own car and he borrowed Armin’s whenever he needed to get places quicker than public transport.

“What, why?” Armin was asking as he turned the nob, pulling the door inside.

“It’s today…” He was out of breath already. Eren stared at Armin, hoping that he would understand. “Please, I need the car. If it wasn’t important you know I wouldn’t ask!” desperation had filled his voice now. They locked eyes and Eren felt like he understood as he watched Armin reach into his pocket to pull out the keys that clinked against each other on their ring. “Thanks, man. You’re definitely the best of the best!” he turn tailed and headed for the front door. Reaching for the handled and jerked it open without a break in motion. Before Armin could say anything, Eren was gone.

He jogged down the stairs, jumping the last five, nearly missing the last step. Sprinting for the entrance, he skipped over another six steps down the stoop into the brisk night. He forgot to grab his jacket, wearing only a shirt he bought from the _Titan Store_ , a pair of khaki shorts and his trusty monochrome Vans. Eren was met with the chill of the night. He shivered, wrapping his arm around his body. He shook his head and began running along the side of the buildings in the direction where Armin usually parked his car. _No time to go back now._ Once Eren spotted it, he hastily got in. Shoving the keys in the ignition whilst his hands shook; the familiar sound of humming was soon drowned out by the radio. Armin’s choice in music wasn’t Eren’s favorite thing in the world and he’d rather listen to cats doing it. It was all just boring instrumentals to him. Eren drove a little bit over the speed limit while abiding the laws, the last thing Eren wanted as a speeding ticket on the one day he promised to never forget.

Eren turned on 18th street and parked along the curb right outside _Chalk and Stars_. He looked down at the clock on the dashboard that was flickering a pale blue **10:59**. Eren sighed with relief that he had made it with a minute to spare. The sounds of bells above the café’s door tolled and Eren turned his head. He spotted Mikasa as she was walking out. Eren reached for the door handle and pushed it open, getting out. He leaned against the car waiting for her to notice him.

Mikasa stopped when she glanced up at him. Eren grinned, pushing off the car. “Get in, we’re going places” he announced and walked around to the passenger side, “well, come on! We don’t have all night.” Mikasa’s face lit up as and he watched as she capered towards him. Eren held the door for her, waiting until she was in before he shut it and made his way to the other side. He slid into the seat next to her, “I’m sorry...”

“It’s alright… things happen…” she put her hands over the heat coming from the vents, “Funny to think that it was warm earlier today…” Eren realized she was trying to keep her mind off where they were about to go and laughed lightly.

“I wouldn’t know, I was inside all day.” He glanced over at her just as she smiled at the jest, but it faded away just as quickly as it came and he felt guilty. “Don’t worry, Mikasa. I may be stupid sometimes, but I’d never forget about you.” They pulled away from the curb and headed off.

Before too long, the car rolled up to an empty parking lot that bordered a quiet and desolate cemetery. Mikasa’s parents awaited their visit beyond the gates and the two of them got out. Eren walked over to Mikasa’s side, holding out his arm. “Shall we?” he said softly, almost as if he was spooked that the dead could hear them. She placed her arm in-between his, he could feel the warmth of her jacket against his bare forearm. They walked along the path for a while in silence until they reached the home of her parents’. Mikasa pushed away from his side. Eren watched as she knelt before the headstones; he was about to reach out for her when he noticed she was silently crying. “M-Mikasa…” he stepped towards her, “Mikasa.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her. Tears began to hit his arm as he pulled her closer, “Mikasa…” he whispered, rocking her gently “it’s okay…” Eren felt the cold, muddy ground squish against his knees as they fell to the ground. He felt her entire body shake. She pressed her face against his chest, crying into his shirt and Eren could feel her tight grip on his sleeves. He rested his head against the top of hers, gently rocking her.

To Eren, Mikasa was his sister and no one could tell him otherwise; he would do anything for her. His heart was felt heavy to see her cry; he was used to her always showing off how brave and strong she was, but he knew. Deep down she was just a little girl who wanted her parents. Time felt like it stood still as they sat in the moonlit cemetery. Eren took his hand and petted Mikasa’s head softly. “Mikasa…” he comforted, “we should probably go now.” He felt her nod, pushing himself up. He took hold of Mikasa’s hands; the warmth had long since left. Eren didn’t realize just how long they’ve been sitting there. They stood there quietly; Eren’s eyes never left Mikasa’s face, her expression was bleak; her eyes dull. Moments went by, he was starting to get uncomfortable. He never brought Mikasa here at night, now he knew why. _This shit is too spooky._ Eren shivered at the thought of hands popping out of the ground when Mikasa finally spoke.

“I’m ready…” Mikasa lifted her head and their eyes met. Her face softened and warmed up, a half-smile playing on her lips. Eren nodded and they strolled in silence along the path they had come. He opened the car door for Mikasa, letting her settle in before he closed it. Eren rubbed his arms as he stumbled over to the other side, resting into his seat. He leaned forward to turn the key and Armin’s car began to hum, warm air rushed out. He looked over at Mikasa who was glancing at the blinking clock on the dashboard. She leaned forward and placed her hand on the dial for the radio, “Thank you, Eren…” she whispered.

 

* * *

 

The porch light was out and the breeze pushed loose leaves around the yard as Levi strolled up behind Auruo who had just opened the door. Light spilled out and the sounds of laughter filled the doorway. Levi closed the door behind him, waiting for the click before he turned around to find Petra standing in the hall, “Welcome home!” she exclaimed, her dimples were prominent and Levi couldn’t help, but feel pleased.

“Petra! What the hell, you’re supposed to be setting the table!” Erd shouted from the other room, “Hey, hey, hey! Put that down!”

“Ahh! You’re just in time for dinner…” Petra was beaming and practically skipped towards him. She grabbed the cuff of his sleeve and tugged, “Cook with us!”

Levi followed close behind Petra as she bounced back to the kitchen. The savory smell of meat lingered down the hall greeting Levi’s nose. When they all moved in together they agreed to have one night a week where they’d cook group meals. After a while, Erd couldn’t handle the boring dishes the others came up with and took it upon himself to plan them. Levi was thankful, mostly because Gunter had a weird taste when it came to food. “What’s for dinner?” he inquired, lifting a lid off one of the pans that were scattered around.

“Tacos!” Erd was ecstatic. Levi knew tacos were one of Erd’s favorite things to make. He looked around the kitchen, he saw Gunter and Auruo joking by the fridge and Petra sat at the table she had just set up. He ambled over to the other side of where she was seated and plopped down. It was awhile before everything was done and the table was filled with bowls of rice, meats, lettuce, and beans. A plate of taco shells sat in the middle of everything and ramekins of cheese and salsa circled around it. “Now tell me, doesn’t this looking fuckin’ delicious?” Erd boomed, but just as everyone was about to help themselves, the front door sounded off.

_Front door open._

“HELLO MY FRIENDS!” a familiar grating voice echoed through the walls, “I AM HERE TO SAVE YOU FROM BOREDOM!” The sound of footsteps closed in and in the archway of the kitchen, stood a familiar and uninvited guest.

“Shitty glasses…” Levi grumbled, feeling a sense of annoyance, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Hanji folded her arms, her face pinched up, “Little did _you_ know, Petra invited me!” she retorted. Hanji grabbed the empty chair and perched beside Petra, “Guess what!”

“Hm?” Petra looked at Hanji while grabbed a shell from the middle of the table.

“I got a promotion! I was wondering if you wanted to come over and see my new babies.” Hanji was radiating excitement, “I’ve named them Sawney and Bean!” Hanji went on about picking up two kittens earlier in the day while everyone at the table ate. It wasn’t long until they finished and everyone helped clean up. Levi insisted Hanji help since she barged in.

“You ready to go?” Hanji giggled, making her way to the front door.

“Yeah!” Petra followed. Levi touched her shoulder lightly and she quickly turned around.

He stood in front of her, looking her over. She was dressed in a grey long-sleeved shirt, orange flower printed leggings, and smoked grey boots. He cleared his throat and brought her jacket forth, “It’s cold outside.” He stated, holding back any objections of her leaving this late at night.

Petra’s face began to turn red as she reached for it, “Th-thank you!” she spun around and ran after Hanji. Levi stood at the door as he watched them pull out. Erd came up behind him and nudged Levi with his elbow.

“You know she likes you, right?” He chuckled and sauntered off, leaving Levi to his thoughts.

 

* * *

Armin sat at his desk when he heard his roommates return. He lifted up out of his chair and made his way for the door, pulling it open and sticking his head out, “Hey guys!”

“Hey Armin!” Eren called out, “We’re about to get online. Time to kick some Titan’s ass!” and with that, Eren disappeared to his room. Mikasa padded down the hall, stopping at Armin’s room.

“Hey…” she smiled at him, her eyes faintly glinting in the dim light of the hall. Armin noticed that she had a different look about her and that made him feel better. “Are you already on?” he noticed Mikasa was looking over his shoulder in the direction of his laptop. He nodded.

“Yeah, I just met someone and we were partying.”

“Oh? That’s nice to hear. I’ll be on in a bit, gotta change out of my uniform.” She patted his shoulder and left to her room. The sound of Skype’s ring filled Armin’s room. He rushed over to accept and just as the call was connected, Eren started shouting.

“WHO THE HELL IS THAT, ARMIN?” Eren had found Armin and his party member already and before he could react Eren was bellowing again. “ISN’T THAT THE WITCH THAT KEEPS KILLING ME? WHY ARE YOU IN A PARTY WITH HER?”

“E-Eren…”

“WHY ARE YOU FRANTINIZING WITH THE ENEMY, ARMIN?”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Armin stuttered, he never thought Eren would react negatively over it. He could practically hear Eren’s anger bubble.

**TitanTyrant** : WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE

**Lionheart** : lol what

**Lionheart** : oh wait, you’re that noob i keep owning

**TitanTyrant** : WHO ARE YOU CALLING A NOOB

**TitanTyrant** : I’M NOT THE ONE PKING INNOCENT PEOPLE

**Lionheart** : it was just for fun. why are you getting so hissy over it? y’know that’s one of the reasons I do it. lol

Mikasa joined the call in the middle of Eren shouting at Armin, “What are you shouting about?”

“MIKASA, HE’S HANGING OUT WITH THE PERSON WHO KEEPS KILLING ME!”

“Sh-she’s not that bad, Eren!” Armin declared, “She’s pretty nice once you get to know her!” he alt-tabbed out of his game client and opened Skype. He had added Lionheart as a friend while his friends were out. He opened the call’s chat and added his new friend to the call.

“Hi again, Armin!” a new voice announced excitedly.

“ARMIN, DID YOU JUST… WHY!” Eren was baffled and angry.

“Eren, be nice.” Mikasa stated, “I’m Mikasa, you must be…”

“Annie.”

“Ah, nice to meet you. Just ignore Eren, he’s having a meltdown right now.”

“Oh, I know. He was just yelling at me in-game.” Annie giggled, “I didn’t know he had such a sore spot for me.”

Mikasa snickered, “Yeah, he gets a bit emotional. We just try to ignore it.”

“DON’T TALK ABOUT ME LIKE I’M NOT HERE.” Eren barked.

“Hey look, Eren, is it? I’m sorry for killing you like a shit ton, okay? Let’s just start over.”

Eren was silent for a minute, “Fine.” He groaned, clearly unhappy.

“Guys wanna go kill some titans and stuff?” Annie questioned, “We can go to that one area outside Wall Maria.”

“I’m done for it” Mikasa replied.

“Yeah, let’s do it!” Armin chimed in and Eren grunted what sounded like he was agreeing. Once Mikasa was loaded in, they all met over in the same area that Annie had killed Eren earlier that day. Eren was disgruntled about everything, but after they all got along, he began to warm up to her.

 

* * *

 

“What’s the deal with Levi?” Hanji asked, petting Sawney who was a tiny grey and black striped kitten. Petra had Bean, a calico kitten who appeared bigger than its brother, in her lap.

“What do you mean?” she replied.

“I mean, he acts like an ass… but there’s times where he shows he cares. Especially towards you.” Hanji teased her, knowing well of her feelings towards him. “You know… even though we’ve known each other since we were babies, he’s never been that nice to me!”

“I-I don’t know what you mean!” Petra’s face was burning. She pulled Bean in closer, “Aww, you’re _so cute_.” and squealed.

“Come on, Petra! Didn’t you see the way he handed you your jacket earlier? Please tell me you’re not that daft!”

“Let’s not talk about him, Hanji! Let’s talk about these kittens instead!” she snuggled Bean, trying to avoid the subject at hand when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” Hanji jumped off her couch with the kitten in hand and headed to her front door. The door opened and Petra could hear the distaste in Hanji’s voice, “Oh. You.”

Petra was busy looking at the kitten when Hanji returned, “Who was it?”

“I think the important question here is… why are you wearing cat ears?” Petra jerked her head up to find Levi standing in the middle of Hanji’s apartment. His eyes locked with her own and she started to feel hot inside.

“I.. I..” she stuttered, hastily looking down at the kitten in her lap.

“If you _must_ know, we’re trying to make them feel at home!” Hanji quipped at Levi’s question.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” He scoffed, “When the hell did you even get cats? Don’t you know how messy they can be?”

“But don’t you remember, I said I would get kittens when I got my promotion… and since I’m salary now and I get two days off a week…”

“All I heard was promotion.”

Hanji groaned and threw her arms up, “You’re impossible to deal with!” she took the cat ears off her head and shoved them onto his, which was easy because he was that much shorter than her. Levi grunted; he didn’t feel like fighting it, and he sat in the empty space next to Petra. Hanji handed him Sawney and walked off. He was left there, holding a kitten he didn’t want to touch, his mind raced with thoughts that involved; _does it have fleas? Shots? Did she get him the right cat litter? Hanji shouldn’t be allowed to have pets._

A little while later, Hanji returned with a box of treats. She was greeted with the site of Levi petting Sawney, stealing glances at Petra whenever she wasn’t looking. She smiled and laughed to herself, “Dessert, anyone?” she offered, setting the box down on her coffee table.

Levi glanced in her direction and nodded. He leaned to the side a bit to pull his phone out of his pants pocket, turning it on while reaching for whatever was in the box. Levi took a bite, chewing and looked down at his phone. “On second thought…” he continued, “Petra, don’t you work tomorrow?”

“Ah! I nearly forgot!” Petra got off the couch in a rush of haste, apologizing to Hanji as much as she could as she handed her Bean, “I’m so sorry!” Levi cautiously got up himself and placed Sawney in Hanji’s other arm. They found their way to the front door and Petra ran out first, leaving Levi behind.

“It’s okay! Text me when you’re home!”

“I will!”

Levi turned to face Hanji to thank her for her hospitality, even though he was rude to her before, but was cut short when she held her hand up. “No need. Just don’t do anything stupid, alright?” she said with a teasing undertone and closed the door without hesitation. Levi sighed and headed out to where Petra was waiting in the car.

They rode in silence, both stealing glances at the other on the way. They stopped for gas and Petra picked up a few things for the others. When she got back in the car, she noticed that Levi had turned the radio on. The rest of the drive peaceful, like it usually was when the guys weren’t with them. They didn’t exchange words, but Petra enjoyed it all the same. They pulled into their driveway and Levi walked behind her, letting her inside the house first. It wasn’t until Petra reached her room that she turned around find that Levi was following her. “Uh... thank you for coming to get me.” She said quietly.

“I was in the neighborhood.”

Petra smiled happily, “Night!” she spun around and entered her room, closing the door behind her. She leaned against the door, trying to catch her breath and listened for him. Levi stood there quietly in the hall feeling quite content with himself and headed off to his own room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eren speaks capslock.


	5. Short Standings

The canopy of the tall trees that the forest was named after, acted as a ceiling, blocking out most of the sun. It was like being in a cave, but without the bats and the feeling of damp air. Armin stood quietly, watching as a bundle of titans faltered in-between massive trunks, their misshapen bodies slammed with force. He swayed back and forth, he hoped he wouldn’t fall. He shot a flare up to signal his location; no more than a few seconds later, he had lost his footing to the slick branch sending him down towards the ground where titan below opened its mouth in anticipation, or that’s what it looked like to him as he was falling towards it. He closed his eyes. “Armin!” he heard a shout moments before something forcefully hit his side. He opened his eyes to see Annie had taken a hold of him, “Are you okay?!” she asked with a look of worry on her face. He nodded and Annie sighed with relief, “That’s good… why didn’t you maneuver away?” She brought them up to another branch a bit further back and dropped him on his face, by accident, before landing on her feet beside him.

Armin dusted off the dirt and stood up. “I’m out of gas….” He turned his head towards where he had fallen, he could see Eren and Mikasa in the distance putting the titan that nearly had him as a snack, down and moved on to another. Armin turned back towards Annie, grinning, “Thanks for that!”

“Ah…” Annie said bashfully, “It’s nothing... I mean, what are friends for, right?”

“Ha ha, yeah!” he chuckled and stood awkwardly, fiddling with his pouch that laid against his waist. “I kinda forgot to grab more gas before we left Stohess…”

“You can take some of mine… I always grab a little more than I need since the Military Polices’ faction quests are within the walls…”

“Oh yeah, you can’t use the maneuver gear in towns… that must suck!” he frowned and she giggled, taking what he said as a jest.

“Yeah, def!” the sounds of Eren shouting in the distance grabbed her attention and she jerked her head in the direction it came from. A titan slammed its large head into the base of the tree they were in, knocking Annie off. Armin dropped his body flat on the branch and grabbed Annie by the hand, “Armin…” her pale blue eyes glistened in the stray light that found its way through the canopy. “Let go or we’ll both go down.”

“I won’t let go!” he argued, “Don’t make me!”

“It’s okay, I’m pretty good at the maneuver gear! I bet I can swing right on out… please…”

He shook his head in disagreement, “No!” but his hand betrayed him and his grip loosened. His eyes widened as Annie fell from his grasp. Steam rushed up from below her and the sound of the titan being slayed sounded off. Annie swung away and Eren emerged.

“ARMIN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING STANDING AROUND?!” he bellowed, but before Armin could say a word, bright golden words filled the screen.

**ATTENTION ALL PROTECTORS OF HUMANITY!**

**THE WALLS OF TROST HAVE BEEN BREACHED AND THE TIME HAS COME TO PROVE YOURSELF WORTHY OF BEING CALLED SOLDIERS.**

**TEAM UP AND PROTECT THE TOWN FOR _TWO HOURS!! _ REMEMBER THAT ONCE YOU’VE DIED YOU WILL NO LONGER BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE NOR ENTER THE TOWN OF TROST UNTIL THE EVENT HAS ENDED, NO ONE IS LEFT STANDING OR ALL TITANS HAVE BEEN ELMINIATED.**

**_YOU ARE THE LAST HOPE!_ **

****

The sounds of Eren’s bellowing filled both everyone’s ears and the apartment itself, it was half past two in the morning by the time the event announcement was sent out. “If it’s alright, I’m going to do the event with my other friends…” Annie stated, “Maybe we can like… meet up somewhere in Trost?”

“Yeah, that’d be great!” Armin exclaimed, “But I can’t warp to town, I used it earlier so…”

“We can ride back, Armin. It’s no big deal.” Mikasa dropped off the branch down to muddy forest floor, “Grab your horse.” Armin followed closely. They untied their horses from one of the smaller trees and mounted up, leaving Eren behind, “He’ll catch up.” She reassured him.

“Alright, guys. I’ll talk to you later!” Annie left the call shortly after and she disappeared amongst the trees.

“Hey! Where’d you guys go?” Eren asked, feeling left alone. “Where’d Annie go?”

“She wanted to do the event with her other friends, but we’ll join up with them in Trost.” Mikasa continued, “Are you warping to town or riding back?”

“A titan kicked my horse awhile ago… I’ll just meet you guys outside town.” Armin and Mikasa agreed in unison. Eren pulled out his once-a-day warp scroll, starting the tedious wait that followed after using. “Why do they make these take so long to cast!”

“They don’t want you to be dependent on it.”

“I know that! It’s just annoying and takes forever!” Eren pouted, crossing his arms. He reached for his mouse and alt-tabbed out of the game, “I’m adding Marco and the horse…” he pulled up the call’s window, adding them to the call.

“We’re waiting outside Trost now…” Marco said the moment he accepted.

“Is the horse there?”

“Yeah…”

“Of course I’m here, you jackass!” Jean barked, “Why do you keep making horse jokes? It’s fucking stupid.”

“You’re stupid.”

“Oh, so original.”

Eren could practically hear the eye rolling Jean was doing when he retorted, “Whatever, just don’t fuck up like you did earlier!”

“That was you!”

“No it wasn’t, it was your fault!”

Armin chimed in, “Stop fighting or else you’ll both be the death of us all!”

Eren appeared next to Marco and Jean. They waited a few minutes before Armin and Mikasa reached the gates outside of town. They all headed through to Trost and then to the General Store that was right next to the entrance.

There was still a few minutes before the event started and everything locked. Once you’ve joined the random event, that Eren had thought was once a week, you were stuck. You both fight and survive or you die trying; unless you give up and get yourself killed. Logging off wasn’t an option either, they went full out, making it hard to abandon the citizens at any given time. The primary mission was to help the townspeople escape the chaos while slaying titans of all meters. Lone wolfing the event was unforeseen, the chances of survival alone were practically zero and Eren had to learn that the hard way.

The countdown began.

**EVENT STARTS IN… 5…**

**4….**

**3….**

**2…**

**1…**

**FOR THE SAKE OF HUMANITY!**

Eren was kicked out of the General Store, everything closed off. Eren was pumped. “Alright guys! Let’s do this!” he switched to his maneuver gear and pressed Q while aiming at a wall. A cable shot out from his hip and he flew off. The rest of the group followed behind. Armin spotted Annie and two others standing on top of a roof nearby.

“There’s Annie!”

“Who the hell is Annie?!” Jean roared, looking back to make sure Marco was still alive, “Marco! Stay close, I don’t want you dying this time!” Marco nodded, coming up closer behind them.

“Annie is someone we just met.” Mikasa added, “She’s a good person.”

“She’s the bitch who kept killing me!”

“Eren! Don’t be mean!” Armin shouted, landing on the roof behind her and her friends.

 **Lionheart** : nice to see you made it. do you guys wanna make a party?

 **Arlert** : Yeah, I’ll add ya.

Their names all changed to a pale blue, making it easier for them to spot each other. “Ready?” Eren shouted, “Let’s be the last survivors!” and he was off. Eren was never patient when it came down to it. He was usually the one to die first too.

“That suicidal asshole! Come on, Marco!” Jean barked his orders and ran off with Marco behind him.

Mikasa ran off after Eren, Annie and her friends disappeared, and Armin was left standing by himself. “Wait for me you guys!” he latched his left cable to the nearest tower and went off in the direction of his friends.

It was an hour in and the team took a beating. Jean lost Marco, Eren had an encounter with a titan that cost him an arm, and Mikasa was running low on gas. Armin couldn’t find Annie, but he ended up suggesting everyone to meet up on the roof of a nearby bakery. “Where’s Marco?” he asked, looking at the three of them.

“I don’t know! He was behind me awhile ago and just up and disappeared after we took out that titan infestation at the HQ…” Jean paused, “He’s not even talking anymore.”

“Maybe he found a safe spot and idled?”

“Maybe-…” Jean was cut off by a loud noise coming from Eren’s microphone.

_SIE SIND DAS ESSEN UND WIR DER JAGER._

_“Hallo, Papa! Sie wissen nichet, wie spat es ist? Nein? Es ist zwei uhr morgens.”_ Eren answered the phone, his voice distant than before. _“wie Sie wissen?_ _Ich arbeite! eigentlich bin ich weg… ich. Papa… papa w-warten!”_ he was quiet for a moment, _“Uhhhh… ich nehme es an… was?_ _Keine; okay… okay fine. Ich---“_ A titan appeared behind where Eren was standing and grabbed his character, preparing for a feast, _“Heilige Schieße! dass Titan packte mich!!_ _Nein, papa ich bin einfach nur spiele je spiel! Papa.._ _ich bin fine!”_ He started mashing buttons on his keyboard, trying to get out of the titan’s grasp. “ _Ich bin werde gehen, okay? OKAY!! ICH BIN LIEBE DICH AUCH!”_

 _“_ The fuck… why does he sound even angrier than before?” Jean never heard Eren talk in German.

“It’s German. He hardly speaks it outside the fam-” Armin started to say before Eren’s shouting about titans cut him off.

His feet kicked and dangled above the slimy, wide-opened mouth that waited below. Eren squirmed and kicked harder, hitting one the yellow teeth that lined the disgusting titan mouth. “Fuck, I can’t get out of this one! I might be out…” A scream filled his ears and a massive bundle of steam rushed up. The titan’s grasp loosened and sent Eren plunging into it. The titan’s decaying body appeared beneath and he quickly sent a cable to reel himself in, but Eren came in too fast, smashing right into the hot flesh. As the steam cleared, a figure stood on the head and he stared quizzically in the figure’s direction. The figure was tall, probably an elf, and his guild tag named off Wings of Freedom with the title Lance Corporal. If anyone was part of the Scouting Legion, Wings of Freedom was **the** guild to be part of and Eren had applied numerous times to join. He was excited to see a member of it standing before him, but his excitement was short lived.

 **Rivaille** : Hey, you shitty brat. If you were just going to get yourself and your party killed, you shouldn’t have joined the event.

 _Rivaille. Rivaille. Where have I seen that name?_ Eren wondered, but the realization hit him the way Mikasa slapped him; hard and quick. _IT’S THAT FUCKING GM FROM THIS MORNING!_ He felt enraged, this asshole just saved him.

 **Rivaille** : Well? Are you going to get up and fight or just stand around playing with your shitty hair waiting to die?

Eren balled his fits and his anger gage reached its maximum. _Oh fuck no, I’ll show you. You fucking elf bitch!_ He enabled his maneuver gear, latching on the sides of two buildings and swung away. _I’ll kill more fucking titans than you!_ Eren spotted one and headed in its direction, only to be side-swept by another that sent him tumbling on multiple roofs. His leg was torn clean off and blood gushed out like a fountain.

The Skype call had been quiet since Eren’s father called, but the shrieking sound of Eren rang like church bells, “GOD FUCKING DAMN IT, ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?” The screen went dark and the time for the event sprawled across the top. It slowly counted down to zero. In the end, Marco died earlier on in the event, but he forgot to tell everyone he was idling leaving the discovery of his character’s body to Jean. Armin, Mikasa, Jean, and Annie and her friends all survived, being rewarded with rare items.

“Uh, I’m going to go to bed… it’s three and I have class at noon.” Armin continued, “Night guys!”

“Yeah, Marco and I should hit the hay too.”

“You would say that, wouldn’t you?” Eren asked mockingly.

“Eren, I swear to g—“

Marco interrupted Jean, “Let it go, Jean. Night!” Everyone said their goodbyes and Eren leaned back in his chair, letting the silence wash over him. He sighed and pushed himself up, turned his monitor and desk lamp off and stretched. He stumbled over to his bed and sat down. He laid back to where he was sideways. Eren stared up at the empty darkness that surrounded him. He couldn’t handle it. He rolled over and closed his eyes.

 

The room was dimly lit by a soft pink light that emanated from behind Mikasa. She propped a pillow against her headboard and relaxed into it, bringing up her iPad. She opened a book she’s been reading and lost herself in the world of shadowhunters. It was nearly an hour later when the sound of a creaking door carried down the hall followed by footsteps. Mikasa laid down her iPad and shoved herself off the bed, tip-toeing to her door. She placed her hand gently on the silver doorknob, pulling the door in close to her body and peaked her head out. Her door had the perfect view down the hall, she could see the living and both of the boys’ doors.

Mikasa spotted Eren stumbling out from the bathroom, rubbing his eyes. He resembled a zombie. She smiled, closing her door and returned to her bed to get underneath her blankets. She laid facing a wall that was adorned with her family photo, and next to it was the picture that the Jaegers took shortly after they brought her in.

 

* * *

 

Light shone through a sliver of space through the dark curtains that draped the window, returning life to Eren’s dark cave of a room. He groaned and jerked his blanket over his head, just to find himself thudding to the floor. “Ow!” he exclaimed while getting up and rubbed his back. He stretched and yawned while shoving his hand up his shirt to scratch his stomach. Eren reached out for his phone, turning it on to check the time. “One already? Urrghh…” he grumbled, leaving his bedroom. The apartment was silent as he stumbled down the hall. When he reached the opening to the kitchen, he noticed a bag sitting on the counter with a note. Eren dragged his feet, scratching his head, and grabbed the note. It read;

_Eren,_

_I have a group meeting for a one of my classes today so I had to leave earlier than usual… oh and Mikasa went over to Sasha’s place (in case you were wondering where she was…)_

_Also, I stopped by the bagel shop across the street and picked you up some before I left. You know, in any given situation where you think you’re starving even though it was **your turn to shop this week**!!_

_Please save me the blueberry one too, you know it’s my favorite and I’m looking forward to it when I get home around 3:30-4 and I mean… I did pay for them, these aren’t cheap bagels!_

_Please don’t eat my bagel,_

_Armin._

_P.S. We got a call from the cable company, there might be some outages._

Eren stopped reading the note after Armin went on about his bagel, completely overlooking the rest of the letter. “Who do you take me for, Armin? A horse?” he scoffed, shoving his hand in the bag and pulling out a Pumpkin Pie bagel that he had to sniff to make sure it wasn’t something else. “You know it’s finally fall when all the pumpkin crap comes out.” Eren rolled his eyes and shrugged, moving over a few steps and popped it in the toaster, then shuffled to the fridge to grab cream cheese. Opening the fridge door, he noticed the lack of what was supposed to be there, “Seriously?”

After eating, Eren wandered off to the bathroom to shower before heading off to the store. He lifted his shirt up over his head and tossed it a side, inspecting himself in the mirror. His right arm had a quarter sleeve tattoo of bright oranges, blues and reds that resembled a Japanese painting of Koi fish in a pond with lilies. Eren’s mother paid for his tattoo when he turned 18 as a sorry-your-father-and-I-got-a-divorce birthday present. He had always wanted a tattoo, but not the constant reminder of his parents’ divorce. The reflection frowned and turned away, Eren hated to even think about it. He grumbled all the way to the tub, while he was in the shower, and as he dressed.

The key turned and the door locked, Eren turned and headed towards the stairs, carrying his bicycle with him. He didn’t mind taking the thing down stairs, but coming back was another story on its own. It didn’t help the fact that one of the old tenants broke the elevator last year and the landlord still hadn’t called a technician. By the time Eren reached the building’s entrance he started to regret not doing the grocery shopping yesterday. His neighbor was walking in as he was leaving, “Hello, my boy!” the older man said ecstatic.

“Hello sir!” Eren stepped aside to let the man pass, giving him a friendly, yet forced, smile.

“Looks like we’re in for a bit of rain.” The old man patted Eren’s shoulder as he nodded and left without another word. He carried his bike to the sidewalk. He got on it as he pulled his hood up when he felt soft water droplets on his head.

_I better get this shit done before it gets too bad… hopefully it won’t be like this later._

The store wasn’t more than a few blocks away and it only took Eren ten minutes to get everything that was on the list. He had enough time to stop by the family-owned costume store down the street to pick up a few things for his cosplay that he was going to use for an upcoming convention; he also planned to use it for Halloween if they decided to go to a party. When he finally returned home and unpacked the food, he headed to his computer to watch random things on youtube, probably a movie too. Eren wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, he decided let his mood guide him.

 

It was already dark by the time Armin and Mikasa met in the lobby when returning home. They opened the door to a poorly lit room, “Eren?” Armin called out and he headed to the couch, but tripped on something, “Ahhh! What was that!” he shouted.

“Hey, I’m laying here!” Eren squawked while sprawled out on the floor.

“What the hell are you doing on the floor in the dark?” Mikasa questioned, angrily before she switched the light on.

“Ah god, it’s bright!”

“Eren, what the hell!” Armin cried, “I thought you were a dead body or something!”

“If you gotta know, I was on the couch… but I rolled off and was too lazy to get up.”

“Are you okay?” Mikasa asked, standing by the door.

“No. No, Mikasa, I’m not okay…” he pouted, “There’s no internet. I feel like a caveman, trying to survive the dark ages. I think dad forgot to pay it or maybe it broke… maybe he hates us, Mikasa.”

“… Didn’t you read the note I left?” Armin asked as he sat down on the couch above Eren.

“I stopped reading after that whole shit with the bagel! I’m not an asshole, y’know… I wouldn’t eat your blueberry bagel, Armin.”

Armin jumped up which made it seem like he completely forgot about it, and disappeared beyond the couch.

“Why don’t you pay it yourself then?”

“Because dad told me he would… doesn’t he love us?” Eren frowned up at his sister.

“Eren…” she looked down at him, “He pays the rent, and a father’s love is limitless. Besides, you could’ve turned the T.V on, you know.” she perched on the armrest of the couch.

“With commercials? What are we, back in the 90s!?”

“Jesus, Eren. You’re being overly dramatic.”

“But it’s so boring!” he wallowed and rolled over to shove his face in the wood flooring.

“Don’t you have to work?” Mikasa rolled her eyes, falling backwards onto the couch.

Eren groaned, “That’s in like three hours…” he pushed himself up and plopped on the other end of her, “What are you doing?”

Mikasa was reaching for the remote on the table, “I’m going to watch my shows I DVR’d.”

“People still do that?” Eren was quiet for about ten minutes before he started complaining, “This is boring! How can anyone watch with these dumb commercials?! Is that supposed to be Rumpelstiltskin and why is his skin fucking glittery… is he a vampire from Twilight now?”

“Shut up!” Mikasa shouted at him, clearly getting angry with how obnoxious he was being. “Go bug someone else. I don’t complain about what you watch.”

“That’s because I watch them in my room with no commercials! I don’t live under a rock!” Mikasa shoved him off the couch then, giving him the ultimate death glare.

“You need to get the fuck out right now or else I will fucking destroy your desktop.” She said angrily, her eyes were nearly black and it literally started to terrify Eren. He crawled away, mumbling about how scary she was. “Eren. Walk.” He jumped up and ran to Armin’s room.

“Armin… Armin… Hey Armin.” He whispered while knocking, “Armin…”

The door opened, “What?”

“I’m bored, entertain me.”

Armin stared at him in confusion before stepping aside to let him in. Eren sauntered passed and bee-lined for Armin’s bed, “What are you up to?” he asked, laying down.

“Nothing…”

Eren was silent for a bit before saying, “Don’t you have a board game or something in here?” he glanced around the room in hopes of something to kill his boredom.

“No, they’re in the lining closet. Why don’t you read a book?” Armin’s pocket buzzed. He pulled his phone out and smiled to himself as he read whatever it was on the screen.

“What are you smiling about?” Eren inquired as he leaned in closer to try and get a glance.

“Oh, just someone on Facebook.”

“Who?”

“Annie.”

“Annie? Didn’t you just meet this chick like…” Eren stopped to think, “Yesterday and you’re already exchanging Facebooks?” he glanced over at the time and slid off Armin’s bed then waddled towards the door.

Armin brought his head up from his phone, “Hey wait!” He jumped off his bed and continued, “I’m going to the mall to get some new clothes, do you wanna come with?”

“The mall by IHOP?”

“Yep…”

“Okay. Let me just grab my uniform. Meet you at the car?”

“Sure thing.”

They both left the room and Armin headed out. Eren went to his room to grab his backpack, his uniform, and his phone. He hastily walked past Mikasa who sat on the couch quietly and left without her noticing. When he reached the car, Armin had already started it; the radio blasted as he waited. He pulled the car door opened and was met by the sounds of pianos and violins. He cringed. “The fuck Armin, you’re not fifty!”

“My car, my music.” Armin glared, “If you don’t like it, get your own.”

Eren grumbled as he buckled his seat belt. The short jaunt to the mall seemed like a journey to Mordor instead and Eren felt like his head was about to explode. Instrumental music wasn’t Eren’s cup of tea, in fact, it gave him a headache whenever it was on. When they parked in the lot outside the mall, Eren felt relieved. No longer subjected to Armin’s music. He didn’t notice when Armin left until he was already at the entrance, “Hey, wait up!” he shouted and jogged to catch up.

The mall wasn’t as busy as it usually was. They strolled silently around as Armin stopped at a few stores. Eren waited outside. He laid his arms on the rail that lined the path for the second floor. “Even his taste in clothes are dumb.” He groaned and turned around when a short blonde girl stopped in front of him; completely blocked his view of Armin.

“Armin?” he heard a soft voice ask and the girl stepped into the store.

“Annie?” Armin looked confused, “I didn’t know you lived around here!”

“I didn’t know you lived nearby either!”

Eren stared as the two of them wandered off, leaving him by himself. He crossed his arms and wandered aimlessly around the mall. He muttered about how Armin just ditched him when came upon a store he usually never bothered with; he shrugged and went in. The ugliest sweater Eren had ever seen stood out before him, it’s pink and yellow pattern was an eyesore. “Holy shit, that is ugly.” He picked up another shirt off the display and held it up, scoffed and the dropped it.

“May I help you?” a stern voice asked from behind Eren. He spun on his feet to find a guy who was obviously older, shorter than him, his hair looked like someone took a weed whacker to it, and his face looked as though it could make small children cry. Eren didn’t hear the man walk up and it gave him the creeps.

“Nah... I’m just passing time.”

“If you’re not buying anything, get out.” The man glared at him, “And stop making a mess out of my tables.” Eren was pushed aside. The short man grabbed the shirt he just dropped and reorganized it back into the pile.

“S-sorry. I’ll be going…” Eren darted out of the store. _That guy was creepy… coming out of nowhere like that._

 

“What was that about?” Auruo asked as he walked up behind Levi who watched some kid run out of the store.

“Shitty brat messing up the display I was working on.”

“But why’d he run?”

“Who cares, go clean the fitting room.”

 

Eren came across Armin with a girl in a sitting area after searching for what seemed like hours. “God, finally! I’ve been searching for you for fucking ever.”

“Oh, Eren! I’m sorry… I was just-”

“Whatever, it’s fine. Who’s that?” Eren glanced at the girl and he recalled Armin saying Annie to earlier. “Is that Annie?”

“Yeah, I had no idea she lived in town! We even go to the same school!” Armin was enthusiastic and Eren just glared in her direction. Annie stood up and walked over with a smile.

“I was just telling Armin about this Halloween party next week… you guys should come. It’ll be a blast!”

“Maybe.” Eren said harshly. He looked at the clock that hung on the wall above the center, “I have to get to work. You’ll pick me up tonight?” he turned to face Armin.

“Y-yeah, of course!”

“Alright. Catch you later!” Eren left the two and went in search for a bathroom. He changed into his uniform then headed out the entrance.

It was drizzling now and Eren’s hair was soaked. He forgot his jacket. Again. He jogged along the sidewalk in hopes of getting to work sooner. The sun set earlier every day, making it dark when he worked the night shifts. The fluorescent lit-up sign that read IHOP was a sight for his rain-stung eyes. He sighed with relief and sprinted towards it. Eren stood underneath the awning that hung over the entrance doors and shook his hair out before entering. He clocked in and started his server shift.

Time passed slowly and Eren was glad to finally be able to take his break. He was about to sit in a booth next to the kitchen door when it swung open, smacking him in the face.

“Ah shit, dude! Sorry!” a manly blonde head poked out from behind.

Eren’s face was red and tingling. He scrunched up and sniffed, “Dude, seriously?” he said with an annoyed undertone while making sure his nose wasn’t broken. “What the fuck is the rush?”

“I needed a smoke.” The head chuckled, “I am sorry, though. I didn’t see you there.” He stepped out, towering over Eren.

“Whatever, Reiner! Just watch what you’re doing next time, man.” He sat in the booth, still fiddling with his nose, “I think it’s broken.”

Reiner sat across from him, “Let me take a look.” He reached over the table and smacked Eren dead in the face.

“What the fuck!”

“Ha ha, I couldn’t help it.” his laugh was deep, “It’s not broken. Anyways, what’s up? You’ve been off this entire shift.”

“Ugh, it’s a long story.”

“I like long stories.” Reiner pushed himself further in the booth and rested his legs on the seat.

“Armin fucking ditched me for this chick, Annie.” Eren peaked Reiner’s interest when he said her name.

“Was she short, blonde, blue eyes?”

Eren nodded, “Yeah… why?”

“She’s my roommate.” Reiner laughed, “How’d those two meet?”

“They met on this MMO we play…”

“Really.” Reiner paused, “It’s not Attack on Titan Online, is it?”

Eren was confused and tilted his head, “You know it?”

“Yeah, I play with Annie… so does Bertholdt.”

He fell silent. This information created an alarming slew of memories. Annie was always in a group of three whenever she killed him. Does this make Reiner, his co-worker and friend, one of them? Eren was baffled, “THAT MEANS YOU WERE PART OF THE PKING SHE WAS DOING!” he shouted.

“What?”

“SHE WAS PKING ME FOR A WEEK, DUDE. AND ALWAYS WITH FRIENDS.”

“Oh… wait, you were TitanTryant?” Reiner jested, “Shit dude, sorry about that… hey, your face is turning red again. Are you okay?”

“I’m not okay.” Eren fumed, “You were fucking ruining my armors. I don’t wanna speak to you anymore, I’m leaving.” He slid out of the booth and stood.

“Hey, it was just for fun.” Reiner frowned, “I said I was sorry… Do you want my extra shift, as a token of my apology?”

Eren was angry. His face was red, his eyebrows furrowed, but he couldn’t turn down shifts. He needed the money. “Yeah, whatever. I’ll take it, but this doesn’t mean I like you right now!” and he stormed out and went back to work.

Most of the night was quiet with only a few customers. Around ten, a group of five came in and was seated in Eren’s section. Eren ambled over, pulled out his notepad, and did his routine of “Good Evening, my name is Eren and I’ll be your server for tonight. Can I start anyone off with a drink, maybe an appetizer?” he looked up and glanced around the table. The creep from the store sat before him and eyed him down. "..Scheiße"

“What?” the girl next to the creep asked.

“I-I mean, we have specials tonight! It’s a Take Two combo!” Eren laughed nervously, “Can I get anyone a drink?”

“I’ll have an iced tea.” the girl smiled brightly at him; he nodded and glanced over to another.

Auruo spoke up, “I’ll have one of those IHOP Splashers.”

“Splashberry or Tropical Island Twist?”

“Tropical.”

“We’ll have iced coffee.” One of the taller guys pointed at himself and the guy next to him. Eren nodded and wrote it down. He looked up at the guy in the middle.

“And you, sir?”

“Coffee.”

“Regular or-“

“Regular.”

Eren felt the guy’s eyes staring him down and fidgeted nervously. “I’ll be right back with your drinks then.” He took his leave.

“Did you notice that whenever the kid looked at Levi, he’d stutter a bit?” Erd said jokingly, “It’s like he’s crushing on you!”

Levi glared at Erd, “He’s the shitty brat that ruined my display.”

Auruo glanced over at Levi, “Really… that’s crazy. Are you sure it’s him?”

A shadow fell over Levi’s face, “I’m positive.”

“He’s just a kid!” Petra chimed in, “No need to pick on him, I say.”

“Can’t we just have a little fun, Petra?” Erd rested his head on her shoulder, giving her puppy dog eyes.

“No! He’s just trying to do his job!”

“Fine.” Gunter frowned and Erd sat up.

Eren came back with their drinks and gently placed them on the table. “Are you ready to order?” After everyone ordered, Eren left. He came back once the food was done and gave the plates out.

“Excuse me.” The short guy said sternly, “These utensils are dirty.” He held them out. Eren reached over to grab them.

“I’m sorry, sir. I’ll go get you a clean set.”

Eren’s shift was about to end by the time the group of five were about to head out. He wandered over and gave them a check. The creep from the store handed it back. “No change.” And they all got up and stretched.

“Thank you for coming. Please come back again.” Eren mumbled after, “not during my shift though….” He opened the black book to check the change, “Wow, a decent tip… he’s still a creep.” He went in the back, clocked out, and took his phone out of his locker to text Armin.

 

ARMIN. I’M OFF. OH AND THIS CREEPY GUY FROM THE MALL EARLIER CAME IN.

_On my way._

_What? What creepy guy?_

Just this creep who went all anal over a display.

_Lol, what’d you do?_

I didn’t do anything! I’ll tell you later.

_Ok. See you in 10._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eren's German translation when he's talking to his father;  
> Hello, dad! Do you know what time it is? No? It’s two o'clock the morning.  
> How do you know? I work! Dad.. dad w-wait!  
> Uhhhh… I suppose so… what? No; okay… okay fine. I—  
> Holy shit! That titan just grabbed me!! No, dad I’m playing a game! Dad… I’m fine!  
> I’m gonna go, okay?  
> OKAY!! I LOVE YOU TOO!
> 
> Eren's German translation at work;  
> Shit!
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> if you're on tumblr and want to see updates, see the art we draw ourselves, talk to us or leave us feedback or something! we'll be using the tag fic: aot online


	6. All Hallow's Eve

 

“Hey! Come help me with this!” Petra called out; she was standing on her toes, her hand reached up towards the top shelf. “Erd! Pleeeaaseee…” She scanned down the aisle in search of him. “Urrgghh!” she tried to reach higher as she switched her weight to one foot. “Why can’t… I… reach this… damn… thing!” she grumbled. The area around her grew dark as a shadow was casted over. Petra felt tense and tilted her head up to find Erd’s grinning face hovering above her own. She ducked out from underneath and shouted, “Don’t do that!”

A co-worked had witnessed the entire thing and gushed, “Awww! How cuuuuute!”

Petra spun on the balls of her feet. “It’s not like that! I swear!” She glanced over her shoulder. Erd just stood there and laughed as took the item Petra held and placed it on the shelf. She stomped towards him; her hands balled up into fists. When she was close enough, she pulled her right arm back, then Petra’s knuckles met Erd’s arm. She gasped as if she didn’t expect it to hurt, then she shook her hand before she brought it close to her chest.

Erd rubbed his arm, frowning, “What was that for?”

“For being a butt!” She looked down at her own hand and rubbed gently, “Your stupid arm is leaving me a bruise!”

“What! That’s not my fault. You’re the one that punched me for no reason!”

“You were in my personal space!”

“You asked for help and you got it.” Erd grinned at her; he always grinned when he knew he won. “So did you get your costumes?” he asked as he scratched the back of his neck.

“ _Costumes?_ I only need one.” Petra knelt down next to a stack of boxes and reached in then pulled out a stack of books.

“One?!” Erd crossed his arms and focused all of his attention on her, “We’re doing a Halloween stream, Petra! The more costumes, the better!”

“Who said I was taking part in this… _stream_?” she started to place books down on a much lower shelf.

“You agreed two months ago.”

“Did I?” She turned her head and raised an eyebrow. Erd looked shocked, which made her giggle, “I’m kidding! I have a ton stashed in my closet.” Petra smiled brightly.

Erd and Gunter had been planning this Halloween livestream of theirs for a few months now and it was just a few hours away. Petra thought back to when they had first mentioned the idea and how excited they were. “We’ll get a bunch of costumes! Group ones, solo ones… and it’ll go on for twenty-four hours ending on Halloween night before the party!” she recalled one of them saying. She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, but the concept of it seemed interesting.

“Do you know if…” she paused to push a book into its place on the shelf, “If Levi is going to go along with it?”

“He better.” Erd grunted and his eyes gave a serious glare, “I will force a costume on that little man myself, if need be.”

Petra couldn’t help, but laugh at that. “Little man, huh? If he heard you…” she saw Erd’s face soften and his smile slowly came back.

“I know, right?” He joked and shuffled towards her to help with the rest of the stocking.

“So… how’s your girlfriend?” she asked. Erd had been in a long-distance relationship with a girl who ran a hair and make-up channel for a little over two years now. She noticed he fell silent after the question and she glanced in his direction, but found him staring down at one of the shelves; his hand hovered over an item he had just placed.

“Ah… relationships…” he shifted his body to the left, “they’re hard when you can’t be with them.” He sighed and gave her a half smile. “Let’s get the ball rollin’ so we can get home.”

 

The sun started to set by the time their shift was over and Petra sat on a bench just outside the entrance, waiting for Erd as he finished up. She leaned back and pulled her legs up, tucking them underneath her. The cold air was a relief from the stale, retail store air. Petra surveyed the nearly empty parking lot when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She leaned to the right and pulled out her cellphone; she brought it up and giggled to herself when the screen lit up. She was greeted by a picture that Erd took of her and Levi a few months ago; she stared at it, lost in her thoughts before she remembered why she needed her phone to begin with.

Her finger slid across the screen; she tapped the message icon that was light up with a tiny number one dancing over it.

           

**Erd**

_Hey, I’m picking you up something special. Be out in a sec._

_Something special?_ Petra was confused, _what in the heck is this boy thinking of doing?_ She shook her, the last time Erd bought her _something special_ , it was a pair of thigh high boots that he highly recommended to ‘grab the attention of a specific person’. She never wore them, though. They sat in the back of her closet, completely untouched in the box they came in. Petra slid her body forward and pushed herself off the bench; she stood up and sent a simple okay back to Erd. She wandered around the darkening parking lot; the wind began to pick up as the lamp posts lined the lot slowly began to turn on, one after the other. Petra pulled her jacket in tighter and gripped her phone close to her chest as she made her way to Erd’s car.

The light above his car flickered before it shut off, causing Petra to take a sharp breath and her body to shiver. _W-where are you?_ The weight of her fear built up the longer she waited. She cowered against the car and fought to breathe as she hugged her legs tight against her chest.

“Petra?” she heard a voice call from a distance. “Petra!” its shouts grew closer, but Petra was lost in the darkness that spun around her. Her chest grew tighter every passing second, her hands shook as she held her knees. A moment passed and the darkness slowly began to fade as a light came rushing towards her. Petra tilted her head up just as Erd embraced her tightly. “I’m sorry” he whispered, “I forgot…” Tears rolled coldly down her warm cheeks, the sounds of sobs escaped her. He placed his hand gently on the top of her head. “Let’s get you in the car, okay? You can even pick the music.” She nodded with her face against his jacket; she felt his warmth fade away. “It’s okay, I’m right here.”

Her hands were still shaking when she grabbed Erd’s hand to help her up. He held the car door open for her and once Petra settled into the seat, she reached up to turn the overhead light on. She peeked over towards the driver seat as Erd relaxed into it. Petra didn’t know what to say; what could she say? Not many knew about her fear and she didn’t want to seem weak in a house full of men. She sat there staring at Erd as he started the car and pulled out of the lot. Erd turned his attention to her and grinned as he spoke, “I bet the guys finished decorating. What costume are you going to wear first?”

“Maybe… my Totoro kigurumi.”

“That’s not a costume! Those are your pajamas!” He frowned, but it didn’t last long. Petra noticed something strange, he was oddly giddy.

“What are you planning?” She accused and crossed her arms with an eyebrow raised.

“Me? Planning something?” he scoffed and placed a hand on her forehead, “Maybe you have a fever because you’re being crazy.” She shook his hand off and heard him chuckle. “It’s a surprise, for the stream or the party. Either way… I expect to see you in it.”

Petra took a moment to gather her thoughts. _So it is a costume…_ “You know Levi has plans tomorrow night, right?”

“Of course I know. I’ve only known the man for over five years.” He slowed the car down before they reached a stop sign. She felt his gaze on the side of her head. “You’ll look good in it. I know these things.” His smile was bright and she couldn’t stop herself from returning one. Erd tossed her a cord that was hooked into the dashboard, “Music time!” Petra picked the cord off her lap and plugged it into her phone. The light from her phone lit the car with its blue glow as she scrolled through her list of music. She stopped once she found a specific song and tapped on a song titled _All I Want_ by an artist called Kodaline. The gentle acoustics began to play through the speakers. Petra hummed and sang along with the song quietly before Erd’s off-key voice joined in during the second verse.

_So you brought out the best of me… a part of me I’d never seen. You took my soul and wiped it clean; our love was made for movie screens._

They sang every song that played afterwards together. All the feelings Petra had since her panic attack back in the parking lot was replaced by their laughter and Erd’s terrible singing. “You’re a horrible singer.” She giggled.

“What do you mean? I’m amazing.” He replied, grinning. They were a few blocks from their street before Erd suggested they sing a few more songs.

 

 

“Hey! Stop, that doesn’t go there!” someone shouted from downstairs. “Don’t tell me where to put it! I know how to do it, alright?!” another shouted back. _Sounds like they’re fighting over something that isn’t about those shitty decorations._ Levi smirked to himself as he stood over his bed, staring intensely down. His room was well-lit, the walls were a pale green; posters, paintings, among other things, decorated them. There was a desk near one of the windows and on the other side of his bed, which held his custom-built computer. Across the room was the door to his private bathroom and next to that was his closet. The closet door was wide open and hanging from the hook were a few of the costumes Erd had forced on him.

Hanji had her own plans, though. Earlier in the day she had stopped by and left a box with Auruo, telling him that it was for Levi and to just leave it in his room. Auruo had never gone into Levi’s room without him being in there and being too afraid, he left the box outside the door instead. Levi found it when he got home, instantly filled with regret of ever telling her about the stream the others had planned to do. He picked the box up and went into his room. The door closed behind him as he pulled off the note that was stuck on top and tossed the box onto his bed.

_Levi,_

_I’ll be watching the stream for the first hour or so. I better see you in this._

_Happy Halloween._ _J_ _Hanji._

The box haunted him, Levi had no idea what Hanji had hidden inside. He tried to delay the inevitable by any means. He took a shower, cleaned his bedroom, he even went as far as to reorganize his already organized closet. It was just an hour before the stream and he knew Hanji would be pissed if he didn’t wear whatever was inside. _Mistakes were made. I never should’ve mentioned it._ He laid his hand down and lifted the lid off the box, his face grew dark as he realized what was inside.

A cat costume. A female, slutty cat costume.

“Are you _fucking_ serious?” he said out loud. The sound of Erd’s car pulling into the driveway grabbed his attention and he shoved the box aside before making his way out of the room.

 

 

The front door swung opened and Petra walked through, the house was filled with fog from the machine Gunter had bought a few months ago. Cobwebs lined the ceiling, a few ghosts went boo when the door opened and a spider hung over the stairs, sitting amongst the webs with a bunch of tiny spiders. The hallway to the kitchen had bats hanging from the ceiling, all the way down it which they cleverly called it _Bat Alley._ Petra’s smile was wide, her eyes big with excitement. _Those two really out did themselves this year._ She looked up at the top of the stairs to see Levi. “Hey!” she called up at him.

“You’re late.” He began to descend the stairs.

Petra hesitated, “Uh… Erd went back to grab something.” She blushed as he stepped closer. Erd appeared behind her and shoved a bag in her hand. “What’s this?” she asked, looking down at it.

“Don’t go through it until I tell you to. Now go get your costume on.” Erd looked Levi up, “Where the hell is yours?” he said giving Levi a stink face.

“Later. I promised, didn’t I?”

Erd scoffed, “You better keep to it.” he smirked at Levi as he leaned down and wrapped his arms around Petra. Her face reddened with both anger and confusion, and then she heard Levi’s voice get deep and darker than usual.

“Get your shit ready, then.” With that, he disappeared back up the stairs. Petra pushed Erd away, angrier than before and followed Levi upstairs. She stood at her door and listened as Levi closed the door to his. She pushed her door open to find purple bat lights strung above her desk that weren’t there before she left for work. Petra bee-lined for her bed and sat the bag Erd had given her down. Her costumes were already sprawled out in organized piles and she made her way over to her closet.

She pulled doors opened and dragged her hamper out, she began to undress, then picked her clothes up with her foot and kicked them into the hamper. She walked over to her bed to grab her Totoro Kigurumi and started to put it on. Petra pulled the cute faced hood over her head and headed out of her room.

The moment she opened her door, Levi’s door creaked. Their rooms were across the hall from each other and there stood what appeared to be, a manly woman. “Uh…” Petra was stunned at the sight of it. His head was adorned with a pair of cat ears, his expression gave off an angry vibe. He wore a loose black hoodie over a top that was skimpy, tight, and showed his midriff. His muscles were prominent and his abs peaked out from underneath the top. The skirt was tight and hung low on his hips. Wrapped around his neck was a collar with a bell and he had fishnet sleeves on his forearms. Her eyes wandered down to his legs where she lost her composure.

“Don’t even.” He was even angrier now and sounds of footsteps echoed up the stairs. Petra heard laughter erupt from the landing and she saw the other three gripping tightly to each other and the railing.

“What the hell is that?!” Erd choked on himself, he clearly didn’t expect to see Levi in such a risqué costume.

“Hanji.” Levi replied harshly.

“So _that’s_ what was in the box…” Auruo laughed deeply until he saw Levi’s face and he booked it back downstairs.

“Dude! Your legs!” Erd shouted, his face was beat red from laughing at the sight of Levi, “You _need_ to shave!”

“Man…” Gunter coughed back his laugh, “This is going to be entertaining.”

 

* * *

“So, how’s it going?”

“Sweetie, I know why you called. You don’t need to pretend you care about how I am.”

“I do care!” Eren squawked, he knew his mother thought he only ever called her if he wanted something, but that wasn’t the case, at least not all the time. Ever since his mom remarried, to Uncle Hannes of all people, he felt neglected. She moved to some little town that was up north and they only ever talked once a month. Usually it was him doing the calling. “I just wanna know how you and Un—… Hannes are doing! Anything new? Are you guys still painting that room?” there was a pause on the other end, which made him anxious.

“Honey…” he heard the hesitation in her voice, “I’m expecting…”

“Expecting? What are you expecting, the package I mailed yesterday? I don’t understand.”

“Eren…”

“What? Just tell me!”

“I’m pregnant.”

Eren fell silent as he held his phone away from his ear. _Pregnant? What the heck is going on in that stupid town!?_ “But you’re so _OLD_! How?! You have Mikasa and me! Isn’t that enough!?”

“Let’s not talk about this, Eren. Not now.”

“When then! You never visit and you know I work crazy hours! This is all Uncle Hannes’ fault, isn’t it? He didn’t wear a condom, huh? I bet he didn’t. He’s shady like that, mom!”

“ **Eren. Jaeger**. Shut your mouth and you listen to me. We _planned_ it. Stop accusing your step-father of being shady when he’s done nothing to you! I will hang up this phone right now and throw away the things you asked me to make for your stupid convention!”

“But!”

“Eren…” his mother’s voice faded into the background for a moment, “Sweetie, I’m sorry to cut this short, but-“

“It’s fine.” Eren interrupted, “I have things to do anyways.”

“… I love you, Eren.” He could hear the sadness in her voice; he felt guilty for reacting the way he did.

“I love you too, mom. I’m sorry for…”

“I know.” His mother laughed softly, “We’ll talk soon, alright? Maybe we’ll be able to come down for Christmas even!”

Eren smiled; he missed his mother around Christmas the most. “Yeah, that sounds great!”

“Alright, sweetie. You be good now.”

“I will.”

“Take care of Mikasa and Armin too… give them my love.”

“Mom!”

“Okay, okay… bye baby.”

“Bye, Mom.” Eren hit the end button on his phone and sat it down on his desk; he sat for a long while in silence. Eren shook his head and spun in his chair, debating on what to do. With a sigh, he took his mouse in one hand and rested the other on his arm rest. Eren pulled up his internet browser and typed in a site that listed MMOs. He wasn’t in the mood to play _AOT Online_ , plus Mikasa was at work and Armin was at the Library doing a group project. Going solo wasn’t exactly what he wanted to do either.

His finger grew sore as he scrolled down what seemed like an endless list of subpar MMOs in comparison. He found excuses for not trying anything out. Excuses that consisted of poor graphics, terrible names, terrible character models, or lack of customization for that matter. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing interesting.” He groaned and closed the tab, pulled up Netflix and browsed for something to watch.

Two hours flew by and he still hadn’t decided on what to watch or do. The front door opened and he glanced at the clock before shouting, “Armin?”

“Yeah?” a muffled voice replied.

“Let’s play something.”

“Play what?” Armin opened the door to Eren’s bedroom and shuffled in, his backpack hung off one shoulder. Eren looked him down and noticed that Armin’s hair was messed up and wet, just as the rest of him was.

“Did it rain?” he asked and turned towards the window.

“Yeah. I walked home in it.” Armin chuckled, clearly feeling embarrassed.

“Walked? Didn’t you take the car?”

“Nah, I lent it to Mikasa. She works further away than the campus is.” Armin shook his head and sat on a chair close to Eren’s TV setup. “Play what, by the way?”

“Oh…” he spun in his chair and faced Armin, “I found this old…ish MMO… I mean, it’s nothing amazing, but I figured we could try it out. Get away from AOT for a while…”

“But… isn’t AOT like the only MMO you said you’d play? Does this sudden interest in something else have anything to do with that GM and the event last week?”

“What! No, of course not!”

Armin tilted his head, “Alright then.” He pulled his backpack to his lap and unzipped it. Eren watched as Armin pulled his laptop out and turned it on as he stood up. “Let me get some dry clothes first.” He smiled at Eren while he sat his laptop on the chair and walked out of the room.

A few minutes went by and Armin came walking through the door wearing a familiar grey shirt which had a crab and the word _Joe’s_ across it with a pair of navy blue pajama bottoms covered in green dinosaurs wearing Santa hats and riding snowboards. “Armin…” he paused, “what are you wearing… and is that my shirt?”

Armin looked down at his pants, tugged them and returned his stare to Eren, “What? No… My grandpa sent these…” he completely avoided Eren’s last question.

“He… he does know you’re not 10 anymore, right?”

 “Hey! I happen to like these!” Armin frowned at him. He grabbed his laptop from the chair and plopped down on the bed next to Eren’s desk. “So… what are we playing?”

“ _Ragnarok Online_.”

“Do I have to download it?”

Eren picked up a small object and tossed it in Armin’s direction. “No need, I already stuck it on Iron Man’s fist.” He watched as Armin caught and fiddled with the little Iron Man gauntlet flash drive before plugging it into an empty USB slot on the side. Its built-in repulsor beam blaster lit up upon connection. “You’ll need an account, though. I was going to make it for you, but I forgot your usual passwords.” He jumped out of his seat, “I linked you the site on Skype. I’ll be right back!” he announced as he ran out of his room.

The rest of the apartment was eerily quiet as Eren walked down the hall towards the opened space that had the kitchen on one side and the living room on the other. A light flickered above the kitchen counter once he stepped onto the tile flooring. He took a deep breath, _Ghosts aren’t real, don’t be stupid._ Eren bee-lined to the cabinet above the sink and grabbed his and Armin’s favorite mugs; he scooted a few feet to the left and grabbed a box of _Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix_ and the bag of marshmallows next to it. He glanced down at everything on the counter in front of him and listed off the objects; _hot chocolate… marshmallows, Stark stein, Armin’s TARDIS mug, salt…. Wait… salt? Why did I grab salt?_ He grabbed the container of salt and shoved it back on the shelf above him. _What am I going to do, line the windows with salt? Ghosts don’t exi--…_ a banging noise echoed just outside their front door; Eren jumped at the sound and grabbed the closest object to him.

He looked at his hand and realized he was holding his _House Stark Stein_ he bought online as a weapon. “What am I doing? It was probably just the neighbor…” he slowly sat his stein down on the counter before bending down to pull a pan out of the lower cabinets. Eren placed the pan under the faucet and turned one of the knobs to the side; once it was filled, he shuffled over to the stove and lit one of the burners after placing the pan of water on top. As he waited, he placed a package of the hot chocolate mix into each cup; he then wandered over to a picture that hung on the wall of the three of them dressed up as Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach. Armin was forced to be Princess Peach because he had the blonde hair and Mikasa refused to wear so much pink. They couldn’t have been older than ten.

Smiling to himself, Eren walked back to the pan on the stove and turned the burner off. He poured boiling water into both cups and placed the hot pan down in the sink, and then turned the cold water on to cool it off. Eren grabbed a couple spoons out of the drain rack to stir the contents of both cups at the same time. Once he was sure it was well mixed, he placed the spoons into the cooled off pan. He reached for the bag of marshmallows, tugging it open. He shoved his hand inside the bag and grabbed a handful; he dropped a few in his stein and the rest in Armin’s.

Eren grabbed both mugs and made his way back to his room. “Is it done yet?” He asked Armin, handing over the mug.

“Just about done. What class are you going to make?” he watched Armin smile as he sipped before he relaxed into his computer chair. Eren sat his Stein down on a coaster and glanced at his best friend.

“Hey! Don’t place that on the bed!” he barked as he lent down to pull out a tray from underneath his bed. Trusting Armin with hot chocolate on his bed was like trusting a cat not to climb the Christmas tree. Impossible. “I’m probably going to make a Knight… what about you?” he asked while he watched Armin place his mug on the tray and took a sip of his own.

“Uh… I didn’t really think about it, but I didn’t know the gender choice during registering was the only gender you could make…”

The news rung like bells in Eren’s ears. _Gender specific accounts? Does that mean…_ He hastily, but gently, placed his hot chocolate down and rushed to log into the game they were about to play. “No… no no no… goddamn it!”

“What?”

“I hit Female as a joke! I didn’t…” he heard Armin chuckle behind him, “Hey! Shut up! Let’s just play, I’m not making another account.”

They began the character creation process and Eren was forced to play as a female; he spent over five minutes trying to come up with a feminine name before he talked himself into stealing Mikasa’s handle on _AOT Online_. The only thing he was able to customize was the hair, which he settled on red pigtails. Eren hit the **OK** button and was logged into the game. He waited for Armin in the starting area when a pop up window appeared with a message;

|xX|TonyHawkz|Xx|: oi

Eren hesitated and glanced at Armin, “Are you done yet?” Armin shook his head and Eren returned his attention to the game. He shrugged and decided to reply.

Shiragiku: hi

Armin finally signed in and they were on their way. They went on to do quests, gained levels and changed classes. Eren picked the Knight, while Armin decided to be support and went Acolyte. The two bantered back and forth; since they were so new to it, they didn’t know where to level, then they decided to take a chance and agreed upon an area called _Glast Heim Underprison_ , but they were there for no longer than a minute before they died to a mob of Injustice and Rybios. Eren had forgotten about the awkward exchange with the random person earlier when another message appeared;

|xX|TonyHawkz|Xx|: b my gf?

Shiragiku: what

|xX|TonyHawk|Xx|: u b my gf?

Shiragiku: no

|xX|TonyHawkz|Xx|: y no? i pro i rich

_Arlert has logged out._

“Hey! Where’d you go?!” Eren shouted as he turned his head so he could see Armin as he alt-F4’d out of the game.

“I disconnected, but it’s getting late… I have a paper due early.” Armin closed his laptop, slowly stood up, and stretched his legs before he continued, “We have that party too, and don’t forget to grab a costume… I know you have that one you’ve been wor--…”

“It’s not finished. I’ll just wear last year’s.” Eren turned in his chair, “But I have work in about seven hours…” he paused to take a sip of his now-cold hot chocolate and grimaced while doing so, “I’m also covering Reiner’s shift, so I won’t be getting off until noon.”

“I thought you said you didn’t like Reiner now?”

Eren held a grudge against Reiner ever since he found out that he was part of the group that were constantly killing him in-game. Reiner would greet him when he got to work and say goodbye when he left. He’d attempt small talk when Eren was on break, but Eren would just reply with a grunt. When Reiner asked if he could cover his shift on Halloween so he could go downtown to pick up his costume, he begrudgingly agreed to it. It was then that Reiner had enough of it and told Eren to stop ‘acting like a chick’. The thought about it caused Eren to grip his stein tightly.

“Well?” Armin questioned as he grabbed his backpack from the chair.

“I wasn’t going to turn down the hours.”

“You know…” Armin hesitated, “It’s none of my business, but you work so much and I hardly see you buy anything besides paying your phone bill and the subscriptions...”

Eren laughed and a smile grew on his face, “These just came in the mail.” he reached into his pocket and pulled out three laminated objects. His smile grew brighter as he watched Armin’s face go from confusion to excitement.

“Is that…?”

“Yes. Yes it is. I camped that stupid ass site for hours… shit was expensive though.” He glared at the objects in his hand. They were passes to a big convention that was after the New Year and just so happened to be downtown. Eren especially wanted to go since he found out that _Attack on Titan Online_ had a booth and planned to hold tournaments throughout the entire time. Eren sat on the website for hours, constantly hitting refresh on his browser just to buy them.

“How many days?”

“All the days, Armin. All the days.” Eren held out one of the passes as Armin swooped in to grab it.

“I can totally pay you back!”

“Ah, don’t worry about it!” he scratched the back of his neck and laughed. “Weren’t you going to bed?” Eren stared at Armin who appeared to be lost in thought.

“Oh!” Armin snapped out of it, “Night, Eren!” and with that he was gone. Like the Flash, but in ridiculous pajama bottoms.

Eren sighed and turned back to his computer. It was awhile before he stumbled upon a streaming site for video games, then another while before he came across a stream that was being held for twenty-four hours with about three thousand viewers. Eren clicked the link and was bombarded with shouting.

 

* * *

The office was filled with fog, making it hard for Petra to see. She had wandered through the archway when she heard Gunter shouting at Erd. “It’s over there! No, the other way!”

“What way?! I only see one fucking way!” Erd squawked.

“Turn around and go back the way you came!”

“If I go back, it’ll kill me!”

“Just trust me!”

A scream screeched through the speakers.

“Great, Gunter. I told you so.”

“Ahh, whatever!” Gunter jolted up and knocked into Petra, nearly flooring her. “Oh shit, I didn’t see you there!” he apologized.

“No worries…” Petra smiled softly, “What’s the time at?” She saw Erd glance at the clock they had set up to count the hours.

“Around five and a half hours.” Erd glanced up, “Let me run a quick ad, though. Be right back, guys!” he told the camera on top of the monitor before moving in his chair to face her. “Where’s Levi?”

“Iunno…” she sat down at her station.

“Dude, I’m hungry. We should do a food run.” Gunter rubbed his stomach as Erd nodded in agreement.

“I’ll go get Levi.” Petra said quickly before she stood up and headed out of the office.  She wandered down the hall towards the guest bathroom where light was seeping out into the hall. The door was cracked and she could see a figure standing on the other side. “Levi?” Petra asked and knocked lightly before it slowly opened. Levi paused, in the middle of putting a shirt on with his back towards the door. She stared silently; from his right shoulder to his left hip, was a long raised scar. “I… uh...” she stammered, unable to take her eyes off it.

“Petra.” He pulled his shirt over his head, “What is it?” he asked while he turned to face her.

“The… uh…” she blinked and glanced away. “The others… they’re hungry.” She blurted.

“And?”

“Well… they’re gonna need someone to take over the stream while they’re out…”

“Why don’t you do it?” he made his way towards the sink and grabbed his phone off the counter.

“Me?” Petra choked, “I… no way!” she watched Levi’s face soften before he spoke.

“I’ll be right there to take over if you get too uncomfortable.” He shoved his phone in his pocket, “Erd already bought a few things you might like. Hell, you can just draw over the stream if you wanted.” Petra took a deep breath then nodded. Levi gestured towards the door before saying, “Better head out then.”

They made their way back to the office just as Erd and Gunter were preparing to leave. Petra took over the stream with Levi at the desk behind her. She played a few of the games Erd bought, one of which was a Barbie Dreamhouse game. The two were gone for over an hour before they returned; Petra took the chance to say goodnight and disappeared to her room. Levi stayed for a bit longer before retiring to his.

“Eighteen more hours to go!” Erd and Gunter shouted in unison.

 

* * *

Eren found himself standing outside IHOP, its lights from inside spilled out onto the desolated parking lot. He yawned, having stayed up until two hours until his shift started; he walked through the doors and headed to the back to clock in. The smell of coffee filled his lungs as he walked pass the server alley and into the kitchen. “You look like shit.” He heard someone say behind him and he turned around to find Ymir holding out a cup of coffee. “Here.” She said as she shoved it into his hands.

“Ah, thanks.” He quickly downed it as he clocked in. “Heading home?”

“Yep, worked the midnight shift. It was fucking boring.” Ymir laughed, “You look dead, though.”

“Hah, yeah… I was up until about two hours ago.” Eren nervously laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck. He saw Ymir frown as she shook her head.

“You’re really pushing it, ain’t ya?”

“Not really?” he confusingly replied.

“Lack of sleep affects job performance.” She crossed her arms, staring at him.

“Well, I’ve pulled all-nighters and came into work the next day. It’s nothing new to me.”

Ymir dropped her arms and laughed, “Alright, Eren. It ain’t my place to tell ya when to go to bed.” She socked his left arm, “Don’t go dying on the job, ‘kay?” Eren nodded, rubbed the arm she socked and watched her exit the room.

 

The hours slowly ticked by and Eren began to sway whenever he stood still. On his breaks, he’d rest in an empty booth to watch the stream he had found earlier, but it was never long before he dozed off for the rest of the break. IHOP was empty for most of the night until the breakfast rush began. Every given chance, Eren would down a small cup of coffee to keep him going. The realization of just how tired he was slowly began to creep in by the time his second shift was up.

He staggered to Armin’s car, dropping the keys along the way and a few more times as he tried to unlock the door. Eren relaxed into the driver’s seat, reclining it back and locking the door, he closed his eyes. _A small nap… wouldn’t hurt, I guess._

 

Eren blinked his eyes opened when he heard a rapping on the window; he glanced up to find a blurry, yet familiar figure staring down at him. He reached between the seat and door, pulling the lever causing the back of the seat to slowly move upwards. As he brought the seat back to the upright position, he used his other hand to crack the window.

“Eren, what are you doing?”

“Mikasa?” he glanced at the time to find that two hours had passed. “What are you doing here?” he asked as he yawned and rolled the window down the rest of the way.

“I should be the one asking you that question. I was walking by and saw Armin’s car was still here. What were you doing, anyways?”

“I figured it was best not to drive while as tired as I was, so I took a nap.”

“Oh. You could’ve called.”

“I didn’t think about it, to be honest.” Eren laughed nervously.

“I can drive us home… if you’re still tired.” She suggested and Eren nodded in agreement. He opened the door and drug himself out of the car, then over to the passenger side. Eren, resting his head against the window, fell back to sleep once Mikasa started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

 

Upon returning to the apartment, Eren and Mikasa found Armin sitting in the living room with clothes hanging over the back of the couch. “Uh… Armin?” Mikasa hesitated, “What is this?” she asked as she grabbed a hanger and lifted it up.

“That’s our costumes!” Armin smiled, “This one is yours!” he jumped up and shoved a pale blue dress into her hands. “… Mikasa?” Armin’s smile faded as he noticed the distant look on Mikasa’s face.

“I’m not wearing this.” She said harshly, tossing it back at him.

“But… this set was the only set of three I could find! I even got the right size and everything!” Armin sighed, “This is gonna be that one Halloween all over again, isn’t it?”

Eren chuckled, “You should’ve known, to be fair. We’ve gone through this every Halloween.”

“Yeah, well… this one is yours!” he shoved a gaudy suit of purple and green into Eren’s hands.

“… Are you serious?” Eren looked at the image on the front of the costume that had a picture of the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. Eren glanced up at his best friend who had a bright grin on his face.

“I am.”

 

The three roommates met up in the living room after putting their costumes on. Eren sat gingerly on the couch as he stared intensely at his phone. Mikasa, who ended up with the White Rabbit costume, sat next to him as she did the same. "Armin!" Eren shouted, "What the hell is taking you so long?!"

Armin was muttering to himself as he opened his bedroom door slowly. He stood just in view of the living room, "I really think this idea was a terrible one..." Eren turned his attention down the hall and stared silently at Armin who was picking at the dress he had originally intended for Mikasa. It was pale blue and adorned with a frilly white apron; a black hairband with a decently sized bow was placed on Armin's hair.

After a minute or so of complete silence, Eren began to laugh. "Oh my god! Armin!" he shouted as he hit his hand firmly against his leg, "Holy shit, I can't even..."

"Armin. Your hair is looking a bit... on the short side." Mikasa accused as she wandered over towards him and played with his hair.

"I'm not wearing that wig." he groaned, "Let's just get going. We're already late." Armin closed the door behind him, grabing his backpack and headed out of the apartment. Mikasa followed shortly after, not before grabbing her purse that could be easily mistaken for Mary Poppins' bag with all the stuff she was able to carry in it. Eren was the last one out the door after frantically grabbing everything he needed; his phone, wallet, a pair of green earbuds, and his Mad Hatter hat.

 

"Shotgun." Mikasa announced as she grabbed the door handle to the front passenger seat. Eren protested at first, but found himself in a losing arugment against his sister. "I'm the only girl here, it's only fair, don't you think?" she asked softly. Eren groaned and without a word, got into the back seat.

The drive to the party didn't take long and Eren had no idea what Armin was fussing over the time. It was practically right down the street. "Annie gonna be there?" Eren asked even though he knew the answer. Armin wouldn't have pushed this party so hard if she wasn't going to be there.

"Yeah, she should be there already!" Armin sounded excited. _Ugh. Like a puppy._

 

The car stopped just outside a plain white house; two stories tall and had a front porch. Eren noticed the large crowd that gathered outside its front door and heard shouts of enjoyment and arguments from all around. They pushed their way through the crowd towards the entrance of the house. Eren was greeted by the loud thumping of the music that sounded more like screaming animals and dial-up computers from the 90s. Eren made his way around the house before he realized he lost both Mikasa and Armin in the crowd.

Eren sighed as he wandered through the kitchen before a random guy thrust a red paper cup into his hand. He nodded in the guy's direction and left the room before he could be handed anything else. Eren stood against a wall close to the stairs and stared suspiciously at the liquid inside. Against his better judgment, he took a sip, only to cough and gag. He sat the cup down on a nearby end table and scanned the room in front of him for someone he knew; his best friend or maybe his sister. Eren didn't care who it was, as long as he knew them.

He spotted the familiar black bow resting in an even more familiar head of hair in the crowd after searching for longer than necessary. Eren went to move toward it when a sudden surge of dizziness overcame him. He reached out for something to grab, but accidentally grabbed onto a, much taller, man's arm who was oddly dressed as Wario. "Ah, sorry!" he said as loudly as he could.

"No worry, man!" The guy grabbed his shoulders, "Hey, is everything alright?" he felt the grip tighten.

"Yeah... yeah, just..." Eren grabbed his head and hesitated, "There must've... been something in... in my drink?" he sounded confused. The guy who kindly kept him from falling face first seemed to have gestured for someone to come closer, some guy dressed as Waluigi.

"He thinks someone spiked—" the words cut out for a moment, "Let's get him seated somewhere."

"How many fingers am I holdin' up?" he heard another voice say as he was escorted up the stairs. Everything around him blurred, the figures that helped him climb what seemed like a mountain, looked familiar.

"Do I… have we... met before?" Eren muttered as they pushed him gently through a door.

"I doubt it." one laughed as the other sat Eren down in a chair. They handed him a bottle and Eren turned away from it, anything from a stranger is to be suspicious now. "It's just water. Scouts honor." he begrudgingly grabbed the bottle and drank from it.

"What were you thinking anyway? Taking a cup from someone in the kitchen, don't you know any better?" the Wario asked as he pulled a chair up in front of him. "How much did you drink?"

Eren tried to recall the drink in question, "Uhh... a sip, I think?"

"Just a sip?" the Waluigi asked; he stood against the wall by the door with his arms folded. His facial hair was blonde, making him a weird looking Waluigi. Eren nodded in agreement. "Then you'll be fine in a bit, I say."

Silence filled the room until there was a knock on the door. Waluigi pulled it opened and a cute strawberry blonde girl in a, quite revealing, sailor outfit walked in. "What's going on?" he heard her say in a quiet, almost a whisper tone.

"Kid got handed a spiked drink." Waluigi chuckled, "He'll be fine soon. Don't worry—" Eren didn't catch her name, "Get that worried mom look off your face, you two are like, the same age or something."

"I'm allowed to worry!" she frowned and glanced at Eren. He dropped his gaze to the floor and sank himself into the chair. "If anything happens, text me."

"Will do, mom. Ouch! Hey! Stop hitting me, for the sake of the child over there!"

"What, don't want him to know you're bested by a girl?"

"Just go enjoy the party."

 

Wario and Waluigi sat with Eren until he was decent enough to be able to walk by himself. "You're welcome to hang with us, kid. At least until your friends find you." Eren contemplated, but in the end agreed.

"Great! Let's get this party rollin'... oh and don't drink anything someone hands you unless it's one of us! Don't want ya havin' another spell like before." both of the guys laughed and Eren couldn't help, but laugh at his own expense. The Wario, the Waluigi, and the Mad Hatter left the room and rejoined the party. Eren wasn't sure what it was, but he felt like he either met these two before or at least seen them somewhere. He never caught their names or the name of the girl who they appeared to be with. Eren shrugged it off and followed closely behind the two guys who helped him from making a fool out of himself.

 

* * *

 

“You have reached your destination.” a GPS voice announced as Levi pulled into a parking spot. He turned his car off and grabbed his black jacket off the passenger seat before he got out. The lot was poorly lit and packed with cars; he pressed the lock button on his key-ring twice and began to walk out whilst he put his jacket on. Once he reached the street, Levi turned the corner and entered a bustling restaurant, _The Charlton_.

“Hello, sir and welcome to _The Charlton_. How many?” a young, red-haired girl in a black dress asked him as he approached the host podium.

“I’m part of the Erwin Smith party.” Levi said matter-of-factly. He watched as the girl scanned the book that sat before her.

“Ah, yes. Two of them are already seated.” The girl stepped out from behind the podium, “Follow me, please.” She said as she wandered off. Levi followed close behind. “Here you are, sir.” The girl stood next to a table that already seated two others. Levi took a seat and the girl handed him a small menu.

“Thank you.” He told the girl before she left. Levi glanced at the two at his table before he said anything, “Erwin. Hanji.”

“Hah, so you finally made it.” Erwin jested as he reached for a glass of what Levi assumed was whiskey, in front of him. “Hanji and I were just talking about you.”

“I’ll assume the usual conversation and if you don’t mind me asking… what the fuck happened to your arm?”  Levi asked as he scanned the extremely short list of drinks. He had noticed Erwin’s right arm was resting in a sling with a cast when he walked up.

“Ah, this?” Erwin laughed deeply, “Broke my arm last week.”

“How does an adult such as yourself, break their arm? Let me guess… you were viciously jerking it in the shower, but accidently slipped and slammed your arm into the tub?”

Hanji choked on her drink while trying to hold back her laughter, “Christ, Levi!”

“Close.” Erwin’s face fell stern as he took a swig from his glass, “I was rock climbing with one of the CEOs.” He took another, “Misplaced my foot and a moment later, I was flying into the rocks.” Before anyone was able to say more, their server appeared at the table. They sat down a glass of red wine in front of Levi. “I took the liberty of ordering your drink for you.”

“Hello, my name is Nanaba and I’ll be serving you tonight.” The waitress sat a basket of rolls down in the middle of the table and took away the spare set of silverware, all while smiling at them, “Is there anything I can start you with?” she took out her black note pad and held a pen ready.

“We’ll take the artichoke appetizer” Erwin said as he eyed Levi who wore an expression of disgust, then continued, “And a shrimp cocktail.”

“Alright!” she began to write as she spoke, “and have you decided on your main course?”

Levi tilted his head up, “I’ll have the New York steak.”

“And how would you like that cooked? Rare, medium, or well-done?”

“Rare.” He shifted his attention to Hanji as she continued the flow of ordering. The waitress took her leave after the orders were placed and the three of them sat silently until Hanji spoke up.

“I saw you wore my gift last night.” She giggled, “You looked… stunning.”

“Am I missing something?” Erwin asked before he downed the rest of his whiskey.

“I got him a sexy cat costume for Halloween!”

“Ah.” Erwin chortled, “That must’ve been a sight. I’m sad that I missed it.”

Levi felt Erwin’s stare on him, “It was an ugly costume, you didn’t miss much.” He laid out his napkin on his lap, then saw Hanji frown in the corner of his eye. “Let’s change the subject.” Levi picked his wine glass up and sipped from it.

“Yes, let’s.” Erwin’s tone became serious. “Come work for me.”

“Is that why we’re here?” Levi stopped what he was doing and stared down at the table, “ _The Charlton_ instead of the usual place?”

“You’ve caught me.” Erwin never broke his gaze from Levi, even as the waitress brought him another drink and their appetizers.

“Then you know my answer.”

“That’s what I don’t understand, Levi. It’s the best offer you’ve received in your life.”

“I’m fine with my current job choice, Erwin. We go through this conversation every time. I’m getting quite sick of it and I’m beginning to think these little holiday meet-ups are for naught.”

“Levi… you can’t possibly mean that.” Hanji chimed in, a frown on her face.

“Indeed, Levi. I’m just looking out for you. Like I have been since we were kids.” Erwin placed an artichoke on his individual plate.

“Look, you know I consider you both family, but it’s my shitty life. If I want to live in a house with a bunch of people who play video games and work a retail job at the local mall, that’s my choice.” He took a large gulp of his wine.

“You’re being childish.” Levi felt the harshness of Erwin’s words and stood up. _I’ve had enough._

“I’ll be right back.” Levi took his leave and headed towards the bathrooms.

 

 

“That was a bit harsh, Erwin…” Hanji started to say before it turned into a mumble.

“You know it’s true. He lives in a house full of children and now he’s acting like one.”

“They’re not that young.”

“Hanji.” Erwin snapped at her, “No more.”

“I…” Hanji stopped herself. The waitress made her way to the table with a tray of their food, she placed them down and fetched Hanji another drink.

 

 

By the time Levi finally returned, Hanji had about five glasses around her plate. He took a seat and began to eat without exchanging words. The dinner was awkward and went on far longer than it should. Once it began to come to a close, it was obvious that Hanji had too much to drink, “Can you believe that? Saying _my_ design was crap!” She swayed her glass around.

“Did she drive here?” Levi questioned Erwin, ignoring Hanji’s ranting.

“No.”

“I’ll take her home, then.” Levi stated as he stood; he reached into his pocket to pull his wallet out before Erwin interrupted.

“No need, I’m paying.” Erwin made no attempt to make eye contact with him, so he just nodded and placed his hands on Hanji’s shoulders.

“Let’s get you home, Hanji.”

“But we… we were just getting to the gooooood paarrrrt!” she shrugged at his touch, but Levi didn’t want to stay any longer than he had to. Before he could attempt to get her up, she pushed the chair hard into his stomach, “Alright, alright! Don’t get your briefs in a bunch.” She giggled and wandered off. Levi sighed and turned towards Erwin who was still seated.

“Goodnight.”

“Night.” Erwin waved him off. Levi took a moment before he turned to walk out, wondering if Erwin would ever stop trying to dictate his life. He found Hanji sitting on a bench at the entrance and talking to a plant.

“Here he is now!” Levi watched her jump up, but trip on herself. He hastily stepped forward to catch her, but she was unfazed by it; she just giggled and looped her arm around his. Levi guided her out of the restaurant and towards his car in the nearly empty parking lot and got in.

 

The drive to Hanji’s apartment was silent with Hanji just staring out the window the entire time. They pulled up to the curb outside her apartment building; Levi watched her as she struggled to open the door. “Let me get it.”

“No, I got it!” she wrinkled her nose as she pushed it opened and stepped out. Levi quickly got out to help her and he took her by the arm. The two walked quietly and she staggered beside him. It wasn’t until they reached her door before she spoke again. “Why didn’t it work?” she focused on his face while digging in her purse for the key.

“Why didn’t what work?” Levi knew where this conversation was about to go, a conversation he never wanted to have again since it happened.

“You know what!” Hanji whined and placed the key into Levi’s hand.

“Hanji, please…” He unlocked the door and pushed it open, “Let’s get you to bed, alright?” he escorted her into her apartment and both of her cats greeted them at the door.

“Awww!” she squealed, “My babies…” Levi pulled her as she was about to kneel, brought her to her room, and sat her on the bed. “Levi…” she whispered, falling flat.

“Yeah?” he sat beside her, pulled her legs up onto his lap and began to unlace her boots. A boot fell to the floor when Hanji asked the question he had hoped she wouldn’t.

“Was it that bad?”

He felt her eyes searing into his back, “No, of course not.” He let the leg without the boot down and worked on the other one.

“Then why?”

He let the other one drop while he gathered his thoughts. They had an intense relationship that lasted a week before Levi realized that his feelings for her could never be what she wanted. “You deserved more than what I could offer you.”

“And Petra? What about her? I see the way you look at her, Levi…”

“Things are different now…” he stood up, “I better head home.” He felt a tug on his jacket.

“I…” Hanji hesitated, “drive safely…” her grip loosened and Levi stepped towards the door.

“Goodnight, Hanji.” He said.

“Goodnight, Levi.” He heard her whisper before he disappeared into the unlit apartment and left without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah, this chapter took way longer than it should have to finish.


	7. 2.00.0 Patch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious update has been launched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been three long years since this has been updated lol sorry!

The sun was shining brightly as Armin stood silently in an empty field just gazing up at the sky. He reached his hand out into the open air in front of him, smiling to himself. Before Armin had decided to log in, he was forced to update his client and texted Annie to see if she knew about the new it, only to find out that no one knew until it happened.

The announcement that was both posted and sent through in-game read as followed: 

**ATTENTION ALL PROTECTORS OF HUMANITY!**

**IN THE COMING HOUR, THERE WILL BE AN ULTIMATE CHANGE TO THE WORLD YOU’VE GROWN TO KNOW.**

**DO NOT FEAR, FOR WE’VE MADE NEW ADVANCES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THOSE MONSTEROUS CREATURES WE CALL TITANS.**

**YOU ARE HUMANITY'S LAST HOPE!**

Armin checked everything ranging from his bags, his equipment, to even his skills and quests, but there was no notable change in any of it. After pondering on what to do, he decided to head back to town. Armin whistled for his horse and glanced around the field in search of it. He whistled again. And again, but no horse appeared. "Odd." he said to himself. Armin couldn't remember why he was in this random field and why his horse wasn't coming to its call. He had already used his warp scroll earlier in the day, so that option was unavailable to him. "I guess I'm walking..." He started in the direction he thought town was, probably north.

The sun was high above him now, beating down mercilessly. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve before pushing them up his arm to, hopefully, cool off. Armin sighed as he wandered in a direction he was beginning to think was the wrong way.

"Hey, watch out!" someone shouted from behind him and Armin turned on his feet to see a figure rushing towards him. He dodge rolled out of the way before switching to his maneuver gear and launching a hook into the figure's, that was now identified as a 10m class titan, leg and swung his body behind it. Steam rushed up the titan's body and it screeched as it fell to the ground, face first. "Man, you okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the warning, that titan would have killed—... Jean?" Armin was confused, "What are you doing out here?"

"Oh, haha." Jean laughed as he rubbed his neck, "I was gathering meat, y'know. To make some food."

"Ah." Armin grinned, "Where's Marco?" he asked, looking around.

"He's got work."

"Oh, he got a job?"

"Yeah! He's saving up to pay me back, I guess? I told him he didn't have to, but he insisted."

"Pay you back?" Armin tilted his head.

"Y'know. For that convention ya guys are goin' to. Marco wanted us to go and surprise that idiot friend of his."

"You're going too?" he was excited, maybe this would help cure Eren's grumpy fog that's been following him around since Halloween.

"Haha, yeah, I suppose so. I couldn't just let Marco go by himself, could I?" Jean laughed, "What about Eren and his sister, where are they?"

"Working. It's just me today."

"That's cool, though. Wanna hang out, I mean... ya don't have to, but we're both horseless and out in this field. Two of us are better than one."

"Your horse is gone too?" this fact interested Armin, he thought it was just him who, perhaps lost the item for the horse. If it wasn't just him then, _part of the update_.

"Yeah. I musta whistled for like, ten minutes before giving up. That's when I spotted you and the titan that was followin'. Man, I'm starving." Jean plopped on the ground, "Plus my feet are killin'. How long have you been wandering around for?"

"Awhile, I guess." Armin joined him; pulling up his bag, he reached inside and dragged out a loaf of bread. "Want some?" he asked as he broke it in half and held it out.

"Hell yeah!" Jean hastily took it from his hands and began to munch.

Armin just stared at his half, contemplating what the new update could have done to the game. So far the only things of note were the lack of horses. “Hey, Jean…” he said, turning his head towards his friend, who was loudly eating away.

“Yeah?” Jean said, his voice muffled from the bread in his mouth.

“You heard about the new update, right?”

“Oh.” Jean cleared his throat before continuing, “Yeah, I was forced to update before I was able to log in. What about it?”

“Well…” Armin hesitated, “Have you, well, have you seen anything different? Besides the horses, I mean.”

Jean shook his head, "Not really. I bet once we get to town, we'll know."

"Yeah." Armin nodded and looked up at the sky, "Looks like it's getting dark."

"Safer at night, y'know. What with the titans bein' unable to do anything at night and all."

"Aha, yeah." Armin brought his bag to his lap and shoved his hand inside, searching for something. "Do you have a torch?"

"Uhm..." Jean reached into his own bag, and for awhile Armin was unsure if either of them had something to light the way back to town. "Aha! Here it is! Just picked it up this morning." Jean said with a teeth-baring smile. He held out a stick with some rags tied around one end.

"Anything to light it?"

"Ah... haha, no. I picked this up near one of the forests." Jean frowned, "But I'm sure we could start a campfire and then light it."

"We don't have wood for that." Armin stood, dusting off his jacket. "It's pretty clear out, so the moonlight should be enough." he noticed how dark it actually had gotten, "We should get going." Armin began to walk before he stopped and scanned the field.

The moon's light was barely any help and Armin thought he saw a glimpse of something moving in the distance. He gestured Jean to keep a low profile. "What is it?" he heard Jean whisper as he got closer.

"I'm not sure, thought I saw something."

"It's probably nothing."

"You never know. Especially with the update and its extreme lack in detail."

"Maybe." Jean rubbed his neck nervously, "The faster we get to town, the sooner we'll find things out, I'll bet." Armin felt Jean walk past him, he stood silently for a moment, then against his better judgment, jogged to catch up.

 

It wasn't long before sounds of what seemed like large footsteps echoed a bit away from where Armin and Jean were walking. “What was that?” Jean asked, looking around in the darkness. Armin stopped in his tracks, looking off in the direction he recalled seeing something in.

“Is there... a chance that titans can move about at night?” Armin questioned, trying to remember what he read in the book he had found in one of the inner city libraries.

“I don't recall seeing titans at night the entire time we've played, though... have you?”

“No... that's the thing. We just got a new update... what if?” Armin stared off into the distance, wondering if the figure he saw earlier could just so happen be a titan, at night. _It couldn't be... could it?_

“Iunno man, the quicker we get to town, the better, ya know?” Jean's face was stern, but Armin could see the hints of concern he wore just behind it.

“Yeah-” Armin got cut off by the sounds of thuds walking towards them from behind, making them both turn in unison. “We need to hide!” he tried to not shout so loud as to alert the thing following them. They both ran towards a nearby tree, covered in the shadows of it as they watched a large, furry beast saunter towards them. The creature itself looked like it could be a titan, but it had fur? Or was it hair? So many things were unknown to Armin in this new patch, who knew what it could be.

They watched as the furry thing walked by them, not bothering to even look at the ground as it headed towards the faint glow of an area in the distance that they, themselves, were walking towards. “What was that place called again?” Jean whispered.

“I think it was just a guild castle.” he whispered back, watching the way the thing walked.

“.. does that mean that thing is headed straight for a guild?”

“It looks like it... but Jean, it's night... that thing shouldn't be able to walk, let alone move.”

“It doesn't seem right.”

“You're telling me, we should follow it.” Armin said as he began sneaking towards another tree.

“Do you want us to die?!”

“We have to find out more about it. I never heard of a titan with fur on it, Jean. I think it's part of the patch...” They sat behind the tree, watching and waiting as the beastly creature kept walking, but soon realized that there were more.

  
Titans emerged from the edge of the forest a bit further back, looking as if they were following suit. “Are they following it?” Jean asked, glancing over at titans. “There's not a lot of them, but... we don't have a lot of cover out here.”

“Yeah, we should probably get above them... just in case.” They both pulled themselves up the tree they were hiding behind and sat on the branches as they quietly watched the titans scuttle around on the ground behind the larger, now fading figure. It felt like they were up there for hours, waiting for the right time before dropping down, giving them a large amount of space between themselves and the tiny titan that lagged behind the group.

Quietly following, they made their way towards the glowing guild castle, the faint sounds of laughter and music carried over the field. Armin and Jean used whatever they could as cover, as to make sure none of the titans would notice them, coming close a few times as the tiny one stopped and looked around several times. Armin could see the shadow the large titan casted over them, wondering what it was, what it could be, what it meant.

Then, out of nowhere, a horse ran by them. They heard shouting from the walls of the castle, the music had stopped and the titans had disappeared. Armin tried to get closer, but before he could Jean grabbed him by the shoulder and pointed. There were screams about the lack of horses, running in fear, people scattered as Armin watched the large figure grab the horse that just ran by them, but he didn't try to eat it. The thing simply crushed the horse and tossed it straight at the walls with massive force that surrounded the castle, causing it to bust down. It allowed the other titans to enter and the shouting turned into screams.

Terrified, Armin glanced at Jean who had a deadpan expression on his face. He had no idea what to say, should they run? Should they help? He was at a loss. Jean seemed to have snapped out of it and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him in the opposite direction. “We have to get out of here!” he shouted, “If we keep the moon to the left of us, we should reach a town!” Armin couldn't refuse, there was no point in staying there, it was clear that it was just a slaughter. They had to run for it.

_ Screenshot has been saved. _

 

* * *

 

Eren stared quietly at his phone, reading the message he had received from Armin during his shift. _A mysterious patch huh?_ He sat down on the bench outside his work, yawning and stretching as he waited for Mikasa to pick him up. _I wonder what it could be about, doesn't seem like there's any info online._ The roaring sounds of cars passed him as he scrolled down the screen of his phone, trying to find anything he could about the patch.

**BLOOP! - New Message from:** Armin **  
**

         _Eren! There's a new titan and it's terrifying! It moves around at night!! It threw a horse at a guild castle and allowed the titans that were following behind it to get in! It was a total ambush!_

__

        What? That sounds impossible. Titans are mindless, Armin. lol

__

         _EREN! I'M NOT KIDDING!! JEAN WAS THERE!_

__

        Armin, calm down. lol I can't find anything online about the new patch. We'll be home soon, tell me about it then.

__

 He didn't want to be mean to Armin, but if there's no information online about what he was talking about, how could it be believed. Just as he shoved his phone into his pocket, Mikasa pulled up in Armin's car in front of him. He stood up, stretching his back and arms as he headed to the passenger side and got inside. “Did you get a text from Armin?” he asked her, glancing over at the radio that read 12:30 AM, “you're also late, y'know.”

__

“Yeah, I have no idea what he's talking about and sorry, Rico needed a hand with something.” she replied, pulling out of the parking lot and turning onto the road.

__

“He said he saw a titan move around at night, haha. He must've had taken his contacts out. He probably thought Jean was a titan, I mean he is a horseface after all.”

__

“I don't think so.” Mikasa reached for the radio to turn the music up a bit, “Besides, Jean isn't that bad, Eren. I don't see why you won't let it go. It's been long enough.”

__

“I don't know what you're talking about, Mikasa.” He crossed his arms, looking out the window.

__

“You've been childish about Jean and Marco since the beginning, can't you just be happy that Marco is happy?”

__

“It's not about that.”

__

“Then? What is it about, Eren?”

__

Eren hesitated. _What is it about?_ “I guess, I just feel like Marco doesn't need me, y'know?” _Why do I hate Jean?_ “He has Jean, they get to hang out and we haven't seen Marco in forever...” _I guess I blame Jean for that._

__

“If Marco didn't need you, he wouldn't be trying so hard to get you two to be friends.” Mikasa looked over at him as they sat at a red light, “Think about it, why would he go through the trouble of that?” She shrugged.

__

“I guess you're right.” Eren mumbled. _She's always right._

__

They sat quietly until they reached the apartment building, parking just outside front door for once. Eren jumped out of the car and made his way to the door. He stood there with the door open as he waited for Mikasa.

__

 

__

“Armin, you up?” Eren shouted into the dark apartment as he opened their door, a faint glow came from the hall to the bedrooms as they entered.

__

“Eren!” a shout came from one of the rooms, “Come here!”

__

Eren walked towards the shout and opened the door, seeing Armin hunched over his laptop. “Armin, are you okay?” he asked, laughing a bit, “why are you sitting like that?”

__

“Look! I told you it happened!” Armin backed up from his laptop, picking it up and holding it for Eren to see the screen. He saw what looked like a screenshot of dark area, but he could see a figure standing off to the side, a faint glow around the edges making it look like a silhouette.

__

“What the fuck is that?” Eren walked towards Armin's desk, leaning over to get a better look, “What the fuck, isn't that the castle for that one guild, what was it...” Eren hesitated, trying to think of the name of the guild castle as he saw their emblem's flag in the distance. “Defenders of the Wall! That's it!”

__

“Eren, they got wiped out.”

__

“What?” Eren was confused, that guild was one of the top ones along side the one he's been trying to get into. “What do you mean wiped out?”

__

“That thing...” Armin pointed at the screen, “That thing threw a horse, a horse! Eren, have you even seen a titan throw a horse?! I don't think so!!”

__

He looked at his friend, surprised he's acting this way about it though he felt a sense of pride. Eren was always telling Armin he should get more into it and here he was, doing that exact thing. “Armin, have you ate?” Mikasa asked, standing behind Eren. Neither of the two boys had noticed her walk in and were startled.

__

“Jesus, Mikasa! Stop sneaking around!” Eren exclaimed.

__

“I didn't sneak in, it's not my fault you guys were freaking out over the Beast Titan.”

__

“ _Beast Titan_?” the boys asked at the same time, looking confused.

__

“Yeah, I read about it on the reddit before coming in. Have you guys not tried there?” Mikasa sat on the bed, “Back to my question, Armin – have you ate?”

__

Armin nodded as he hastily brought up his browser, typing in AOTO reddit and read the first topic.

__

         **My guild's castle just got ambushed.**

__

 “Hmmmm...” Armin hummed as he read, realizing it was posted from someone within the castle. He started to read it out loud for Eren.

__

         _So my guild and I were having a celebration for someone's birthday at our castle and it was night time, right, but then all of a sudden someone shouted about seeing something outside the walls. We had no idea what it was, but when we tried to get out we realized there were no horses. I mean, we had horses in our stables before the forced update and I guess none of us realized they were gone before this attack. I don't know what the heck happened, but there was a crash and all of a sudden our castle got overrun by titans. Our guild is pretty well versed in killing them, I don't know what was going on, but like, they came out of nowhere and it was night on top of it. Why were they able to attack? I thought titans were immobilized at night? Someone on the discord said they saw a huge ass thing throw something at the walls too. What was it? Is it part of the new patch? Does anyone know what it was?_

__

         _ **Reply – **Someone told me earlier that they saw a titan covered in fur headed north when they were farming in the forests. The name that came up when they got close to it was Beast Titan. I think it's part of the patch._

__

 “So it was part of the new patch? Why is there nothing in the wiki about it?” Eren asked as he looked at his phone, scrolling through the list of titans currently available in the game.

__

“The patch wasn't even talked about before today, they wanted it to be a secret.” Armin kept scrolling, reading the titles of the posts, looking at the screenshots people had up. “This thing looks crazy.”

__

“Yeah, maybe it's a new raid boss?” Mikasa said as she stood up, walking towards the door. “I have work in the morning, so I'm going to bed. Don't be too loud, please.”

__

Eren didn't realize she had left, he was too busy reading the wiki to even pay attention. He looked up at Armin who had turned his laptop off and was standing by his dresser. “Going to bed?” he asked, a little sad because he was hoping to play a bit beforehand.

__

“Yeah, but I'm free tomorrow!” Armin seemed pretty excited, “We should get up early and go on!”

__

“Haha, yeah! That's the spirit!” and with that Eren left Armin, headed to his room and changed out of his work clothes before plopping down on his own bed. He didn't even realize how tired he was until his head hit the pillow and he started falling asleep.

__

         _I hope there's info on it in the morning._

__

 

__


End file.
